The Temptation of Fire
by JWindMaker
Summary: When a mysterious sound kunoichi comes to Konoha to become a leaf shinobi, she arouses suspicion between the other ninja but Kakashi and Iruka become captivated by her spirit and personality. But will her past come back to change the present for everyone?
1. Dedications

_For Katy:  
You who have been here since the very beginning and to read the mishaps and events that have occurred in this small but satisfying novel, and who began this entire idea from a game of __**'would you rather-?'**_

_For Michaela:  
For not only proof-reading my sometimes terrible grammar and punctuation when this has been printed out, but also helping to concoct ideas for this craft-in-progress. For also being brutally honest when something seems utterly lame, but more-so supportive and proud of my writing. Without you, I don't think this would be nearly as wonderful as this is. _

_For Stewart:  
Despite being introduced to this later than everyone else, your support has been the most uplifting and always at the ready for a kind word or two. You have kept me writing after this stupid break I had and it's incredible how eager you are for the next chapter to arrive. It's a cheerful and refreshing kind of reliance to help me keep on writing._

_For Ren:  
When you first agreed to let me use your name in the story, I didn't think I would have this much success in writing it, and you have stuck with me the whole time. I can't thank you enough for all of the love and support you've given to me during, especially when I was going through a tremendous amount of writer's block. You truly are the inspiration behind all of this.  
My precious water-lily._

_And for you, the reader:_  
_By reading this story, you have supported me to keep writing this and every view and review counts significantly!_  
_Thankyou._


	2. A Myserious Visitor

**Ok, so to get things straight first, I don't own any of the Naruto characters. The only two that I have full rights to are the two I created: The Takahashi siblings.**

**This has two Naruto OC's that I have created and it revolves around them and Kakashi and Iruka.  
Hope you enjoy it xx  
**

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'Lady Tsunade?' Shizune called to the closed door infront of her.  
'Enter!' barked the fifth Hokage's voice from the other side. Shizune entered the office and closed the door behind her, leaving the other figure standing alone.  
'What is it?' asked Tsunade, rubbing her index and middle fingers against her temples. It had been a long morning as it was, and she didn't want to have more bad news thrust onto her before she could go home for a cup of sake.  
'Lady Tsunade, do you remember the rumour about a visitor supposedly coming to our village?' Shizune started, wrapping her arms over her chest as if a cold draught had suddenly engulfed her.  
'Yes, I remember it clearly' Tsunade replied in a bored voice. She didn't believe that this was going to be of any importance.  
'Well, it turns out that it's actually true' Shizune seemed unnerved by this fact, as if there was a sinister quality about the visitor.  
'Alright, send them in' Tsunade said, giving a sigh and standing to look out of the window over Konoha. It was a splendid view from her office, and she loved the village, but it just seemed to be filled with a never ending stream of problems, not to mention missions from other villages asking for help. Footsteps could be heard opening the door, while Shizune fetched the visitor, but on the return, it seemed like it was only one person that was striding back across the floor. This sent a small shiver down Tsunade's back, and she began to wonder if inviting this stranger into her office was such a good idea.  
A young lady, between her late teens and early twenties stood opposite the desk, poised in a fairly tense demeanour. She had a fringe which parted over her left eye, while the rest was cut in layers from the top and then fell into a graceful brunette veil which covered her shoulders and down half of her back. Her clothing was a simple white tunic and grey pants, but her left arm was heavily bandaged from her wrist, while it continued to snake up her arm until the bandages disappeared under the sleeve of her tunic. The left half of her face was also bandaged over, where it followed the shape of her cheekbones and down, to where they cupped gently over her chin and followed to the right-hand side of her face to where it was clasped at the back of her head. This left her mouth available for speech and a striking blue eye exposed. In the eye that remained exposed, it seemed to radiate colour and the three shades seemed to blend seamlessly, with a deep sapphire blue ringing the edge of the iris and then a whirlpool of royal and powder blue around the pupil. Indeed, she seemed like she could be a very beautiful person, but with the bandages over her face…  
Tsunade could see out of the corner of her eye that this visitor seemed to make Shizune exceedingly on edge.  
'Lady Hokage' the visitor said, bowing infront of Tsunade, almost making her back bend 100° at the pivot in her back, and then straightening up again slowly. 'I cannot thank you enough for allowing time in your day to see me'. The girl had a melodic voice, but with overtones of youth throughout it.  
_'She mustn't be any age over nineteen'_ Tsunade thought to herself as she looked over the girl a second time.  
'You're very poised for a girl of your age' Tsunade said 'What brings you to the village?'  
'In honesty, I seek to become a shinobi of the village hidden in the leaves' the girl replied. She looked to the floor, as if embarrassed at admitting this.  
'Well' Tsunade huffed slightly 'Before I could even consider giving you admittance to the village, I need to know more about you. Obviously your name is an important key, and where have you come from too.'  
'My name is Renita Takahashi, and I am from the sound village'  
Tsunade's eyes seemed to form a steely resolve at the sound of this, and Shizune let out a barely audible gasp.  
'Please Renita begged 'Before you begin to form any opinion of me, please let me explain this request.'  
Tsunade sat back down in her chair, elbows propped up on the table with her two index fingers and thumbs touching, while her other fingers curled haphazardly into her palms. This was her thinking position when regarding matters of a great importance. She fixed her gaze upon Renita and without a word, indicated for her to continue.  
'I've come to this village to join the community and to become a member of the leaf shinobi military' Renita started 'I want to relinquish all ties that I have with the sound village because of the waging tensions and wars that the village has to deal with. Since Orochimaru (Tsunade's eyes seemed to click into sharper focus at this extremely open voicing of his name, but she remained to keep her façade) began to corrupt the futile lord and the very community under him, it's been too much of a burden to sustain a lifestyle there. He is also the reason that my family has been ripped apart.  
'You see, when the soldiers began conscripting to protect 'Lord' Orochimaru, my father was forced to partake. He fought a valiant struggle and refused to participate, which lead to his demise. Before he was killed, he told my brother and I to run as far as we could away from the village.  
'As we were travelling, a few of the sound shinobi attacked us and made pursuit our trails. The only way to escape them was if we split up, and that was the last time I have seen him. As far as I know, he could be dead, but as this is the way of the shinobi, I mustn't let it affect me.'  
'So, how long has it been since you last saw your brother, and why this village in particular? Tsunade asked, still keeping her gaze fixated upon Renita and the bandages which conceal half of her face.  
'I was nine when I last saw him, so it has been a decade' Renita replied.'  
_I knew it' _Tsunade thought _'Still, it is too young to lose someone. She certainly has suffered'  
_'The reason I chose this village' Renita continued 'is because whenever the shinobi of the leaf village are ever spoken of, the same qualities are regarded. Nobility, and the willingness to give their lives to protect the ones precious to them. These are the very things that I want to have in my life, instead of being considered as a continuous threat to society. It's a burden being shunned for my appearance as well…'  
Renita finished and dropped her look to the floor. If a tear could form in her eye to add dramatic effect, now would have been the perfect time, yet her eyes stayed crystal clear and defined, as she continued to look at the floor.  
'Your story certainly seems like a hard one' Tsunade said 'but considering the past experiences with the sound village, how do we know that we can trust you?' Her eyebrows rose up again in an inquisitive arc.  
'I have nothing to hide from anyone in the village hidden in the leaves and if I must, prove myself to you if need be' Renita answered swiftly.  
'Well, your residence in the village will certainly be considered, but since you have nothing to hide, why do conceal half of your face?'  
Renita blushed a slight pink at this question, but remained to stand strong infront of the Hokage and her personal assistant.  
'Well, then I seem to be obliged to show it all, then'  
'If you please'  
Renita raised her hands up to her face, and then let them travel to the back of her head, where she loosened the bandages from their firm clasping. The bandages fell swiftly away from her face and they hung loosely around her neck, and both Tsunade's and Shizune's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and awe at the sight before them. Both of them let out gasps of shock while Renita stood there, unmoved at the reaction.  
'Well' Tsunade began , letting her eyebrows slowly return to their proper place on her face as she got up from her chair to face Renita at proper height. 'I can see why it's covered up. But, there is an easier way to do conceal it than covering it with bandages'  
Renita gasped slightly, and wondered to herself however that may be possible.  
'In any case, that is not the matter at hand, so keep them as you will. Very well, consider your place in the village at a beginning, but you are on a somewhat probation. You mustn't leave the village for any reason and report back to me in three days time, if I have confirmed your residence.'  
Renita bowed low infront of the Hokage and thanked her incredibly. Without another word, she crossed the floor and exited the office. The strange thing about the way she moved made Tsunade have that same chilling feeling as before. She moved without making any sound.  
Tsunade sighed and sat back down in her chair, with her eyes closed.  
_'Something hasn't completely been revealed about her' _Tsunade thought _'But if she is as true to her word as she claims she will be, then surely she could be a valuable asset'_

In the teashop on the corner, Gai, Kurenai and Asuma sat together at the table in the in the far end of the room.  
'-and I heard she went straight to the Hokage' Kurenai stated, and she raised her cup of tea to her lips to take a sip.  
'So, does anyone actually know who she is or why she is here in the first place?' Asuma asked, his brow furrowing slightly as he contemplated the news he had just heard in his head.  
'Well apparantly' Gai began, talking in his usual manner of 'importance' and whimsy 'My sources tell me that she's seeking to become part of this village. But, that's not the juiciest detail.' Gai leaned in closer towards Kurenai and Asuma, a smile curving his mouth and a small sparkle of secrecy seemed to form in his eye. Both Kurenai and Asuma leaned in closer, their curiosity growing with each moment of suspense that Gai had them hanging on to.  
'Well, the biggest thing that I heard was that this person, this so-called visitor is indeed in fact a shinobi of the sound village'.  
Both Asuma's and Kurenai's mouth dropped open in shock, and their eyes then hardened into a serious gaze as they contemplates the authenticity of this fact. If indeed a sound shinobi had entered the village, then shouldn't there be more protection placed around its borders? Or even having this shinobi tailed by the Anbu Black Ops?  
Kurenai swallowed. A deep gulp which seemed to resonate much more loudly than she would have likes. Below the table, Asuma placed his hand on her knee, to provide some sort of comfort for her. This all happened undetected by Gai, as he seemed too chuffed with himself to notice much of what his comrades were doing. What he did notice, however, was something large enough to snap him out of his reverie. On the other side of the store, a girl dressed in a basic white tunic and grey pants with an array of bandages. Kurenai began to talk, but in a swift, sudden movement, Gai had lunged forward across the table, narrowly missing the cups of tea, to place his hand over her mouth. Kurenai's eyes had widened, but as she looked upon the serious expression written across Gai's face, she then understood that they all needed to be quiet about the subject. Gai relaxed his hand from her mouth and ever so slightly pointed across the room towards the stranger at the counter. Asuma and Kurenai turned their heads just enough to look at what made Gai so jumpy all of a sudden.  
Renita ordered her tea and left the shop, thanking the barman with a low bow and then walked out the door. Again, she did not make a sound as she walked, not even a soft 'doof' sound on the floorboards. No, there was nothing. Silence.  
'That's her then?' Asuma asked, idly playing with his cup of tea. Gai nodded, and also dropped his gaze to look in his cup, though his was empty since he had finished his tea some time ago. The appearance of this visitor, this stranger, seems to put a cloak of silence over them, and each sensei seemed to shudder at the same time from a cold chill which ran down the length of their backs and penetrated every disc in their spine…  
As Renita walked away from the teashop, she was getting stares from the other members of the community. It wasn't like she wasn't used to it, not at all, but still she couldn't help but feel like an outsider.  
'_I suppose I better start getting to know these people'_ she thought, clutching her tea tightly to her chest with both hands. _'The question is where to begin'_. As she walked past a side street, she noticed a blonde haired kid arguing, no, pleading, with a girl in a pretty red dress.  
'Come on Sakura!' the boy begged, almost grovelling. 'You've gotta believe me! I was training so hard and I didn't realise I had lost it!'  
'This is the last time I _ever_ trust you with anything!' Sakura raged, storming off with her hands balled into fists and her shoulders hunched.  
The blonde haired kid hung his head and dropped his shoulders in a sign of defeat. Renita contemplated approaching him but thought that she'd probably just scare him off from just appearance alone. She considered trying tomorrow, when she had actually looked around the village properly and gained her bearings. So, Renita continued to walk on through the streets, getting furtive glances or blatant stares from others.  
_'This is going to be a long three days_' she sighed to herself._ 'It's probably best_ _if I stick to the outskirts of the village then_….

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**Right, so there is the first chapter. I would absoloutely love a review on this so feel free to write one :D xx  
Tell me what you think (3**

**I had someone point out to me that I had written that the hitai-ate as the kunai pouch *facepalm* so forgive me while I correct my errors aha.  
I know that seems silly, but when I was first getting into Naruto a few months ago, someone said that it was the name for it.  
Sorry guys! I'll fix this soon!**

***Liked it? Tell me what you think. What can I improve, change, what would you like to see? Didn't like it? That's ok. Tell me what you didn't like. I'm not shy for reviews***


	3. A Growing Suspicion

Finally, the third day had arrived, but a dense knot had grown in the pit of Renita's stomach. She's stayed in the village just as the Hokage ordered, but her residence could still have been declined. Still, she picked herself up off the floor of the abandoned building she had decided to call home, and checked to see if her bandages had dried. It had been raining the night before and she had been unlucky enough to be caught in the spontaneous downfall. Renita patted the bandages which were hanging over a set of rafters, and thankfully they were dry. She wasn't game enough to walk out on the open with her face exposed or her arm either, so silently she thanked the heavens for sparing her a stroke of luck. She then wrapped herself up delicately until she was again laden up in bandages, and she threw her tunic and pants over her skimpishly dressed body and poked her head out the door. It was a clear crisp morning, with a small amount of dew still clinging to the nearby grass and foliage, so she set off towards the Hokage's office, her heart beginning to drum its own personal solo in her chest.  
She rapped her knuckles against the solid surface of the door three time, and the familiar voice of the Hokage issued the invite to come in. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Renita entered the office with her head held high and a straight posture, though any ounce of confidence she showed was a mask only, because inside she shaking from head to toe on the inside.  
'So' Tsunade began, sitting on the edge of her desk, in a more relaxed position 'I've considered your request and- (Renita swallowed) I've decided to accept you into our village' (Renita's heart skipped a beat at this point).  
'T-thankyou so much, Lady Hokage!'  
'But I need to ask you something first'  
Fear washed over Renita's insides and a fierce cold gripped her organs. What on earth could she want to know? Unless…  
'You asked to join the military force' Tsunade continued 'so I need to see your capabilities. Show me what you can do.'  
'Well-' stammered Renita 'the thing is (Tsunade's eyebrows arced once again) I need an object or something to really show you…what I'm capable of'  
'Would a shadow clone work?'  
Renita contemplated this for a moment…surely it would work?  
'Yes. I believe It should'  
'Very well, then show me everything' Tsunade said, standing up from the table and preparing herself.  
Renita took the hint, and unravelled the bandages on both her face and her arm.  
'Ready?'  
'Yes' was Renita's reply, settling into a fighting stance.  
'_Shadow clone jutsu!'_

It was the first time he had seen her, but it still somewhat irritated Kakashi nonetheless. He had only just gotten this one lady over her fascination with him, and now there was another girl waltzing about the streets wearing her forehead protector precariously tipped on her left eye. He was thankful she didn't have a mask to match it as well, though. He thought about interjecting and stopping this blatant mimic of his, but hesitated as it would more than likely result in an onslaught of fan-girl affection he neither wanted nor needed. Still, he hadn't ever seen her before, but she was apparently either a chuunin or a jōnin of the village. She had brunette hair which began in layers and then fell like gossamer to mid-length down her back, and he wondered why her left arm was bandaged. In any case, something intrigued Kakashi enough to stop him from reading his _Icha Icha Paradisu_ book, even if she was probably another 'love interest' of his. He realised that he had been staring at this girl for a good seven minutes, and the worst thing was that she had seen him out the corner of her eye as she decided to look at one of the many stalls which lined the streets. Quickly peering back down to his book, he blushed a rose pink across hischeek bones and pretended to be absorbed in his book.  
_'Smooth Kakashi'_he thought to himself, annoyed at his lack of stealth in which he was normally freakishly good at. Except the bigger problem remained; he simply couldn't keep his eyes off her.

Since it had already been an arduous morning, Renita was feeling pretty drained of any energy, yet on the inside she glowed. Lady Tsunade had not only granted her request, but also stated that she was of a jōnin level in combat. Renita proudly wore her high collared khaki vest and navy top and pants ensemble, except she had ripped off the left sleeve and kept her arm exposed, bandages and all. Since the morning duel in the Hokage's office, she couldn't help but feel like she had really frightened her and her apprentice. She couldn't blame them, because if she was faced against her jutsu, she would also panic.  
Renita had to admit that the weirdest part of the day definitely belonged to when she was stared at by this mysterious chuunin or jōnin. The thing that caught her attention was the way he had his forehead protector tipped over his left eye in the same way she now wore hers (she had to thank Tsunade for this, even though she commented that she would be 'another Kakashi', whatever that meant) to hide the part of her face that she so desperately fought to conceal. This ninja had fluffy white hair which slanted off to the left, and a mask to accompany his forehead protector. The way he walked so casually kept making Renita steal glances at him. She was surprised how well he navigated his track and read his book at the same time. Still, she had no time to wonder about him because she needed to train, and the forests which dotted around the village called to her with an enticing invitation.  
She walked to the gate and took a deep breath of air before stepping out into the open. She entered this village as a sound ninja, and now she was beginning her life as a leaf ninja. It felt good to be a shinobi now, and to not be feared by others. As she walked calmly out of the gates into the emerald light of the forest, she heard a soft rustling in a nearby bush, but she knew that training was far more important at this time. Renita began to run, the cool breeze whipping at her face like a gentle slap, and pushing her fringe out from her face. She kept running until she came to a clearing where a soft trickling could be heard somewhere close. The clearing was by a cliff, and below was where the stream was, flowing freely at its own will.  
She started to stretch, releasing a lot of pent up stress from her muscles. Again, through a 'salute to the sun' yoga pose, was a rustling and this time Renita paused, listening closely for any more suspicious activity.  
Silence.  
_'You're overreacting' _she told herself, finishing her pose and preparing for a fighting stance_ 'It's a new home and you have to get used to the sounds of it all.' _She collected five shuriken from her kunai pouch and located a sturdy tree to aim for. She threw them into the air: one, two, three, four and five, and then focused her chakra to build up in her left arm. As quick as lightning, she threw her right arm over to the bandages and ripped them loose, exposing deep ridges gashed into her flesh and bone. She brought her arm across her face, in a parallel line, and one by one, pulsed sound waves from the gashes embedded in her arm at the shuriken. The ninja tools blades glistened in a menacing manner from the shafts of sunlight as they whipped into the tree with a force that split the bark so easily. They were stock still in the bark, in a perfectly vertical line. She smiled and flexed her arm out of its position, because she hadn't lost any of her aim, it seemed.  
For an hour, she had lanced every tree in the vicinity, and she hadn't moved an inch off of her original position, but rather revolving on the spot. She had barely broken a sweat, but she gathered all of her ninja equipment from their resting places. It was a small glint of silver that caught her eye at the seventeenth tree that distracted her from her current task. A bracelet, silver and delicate, lay caught over a slim branch on a leafy bush. Renita plucked the bracelet off its branch, and held it flat in the palms of her hands, which were spread out like a butterfly's wings. It was beautiful, with a thin engraving of a vine covered in leaves etched into every link, and one simple word engraved in a curly script on the long clasped which folded over to a catch on the end.  
_'Mother'.  
_Thinking that it would be a wise idea to hand it into the gate-keepers afterwards, she tucked it into a pocket on the inside of her vest, and pushed the thought of it aside to continue training.  
She walked to the edge of the cliff and looked below at the river gently flowing and sparkling under the afternoon sun. Wrapping her bandages small enough to tuck inside her vest, she then took a deep breath, turned around and lined her heels up against the rough edges of the cliff. A gentle wind blew against her back and made her long hair flow past her face. She kept her eyes closed, and enjoyed the serenity of the moment.  
She fell back into the wind.  
She kept her eyes shut, but she immediately felt the change from the gentle breeze to a rushing wind forcefully pushing both against and past her. The sound of trickling water seemed to grow into a roar of water but she didn't flinch. Renita simply raised her arm to the parallel position again, the difference being that she was upside down and rushing headfirst into a river below, unaware of the depth of it all or how close she really was. She counted another two seconds before letting a powerful stream of sound waves fly past her face and parted the water's edge into a crescent. The sound waves reverberated from the water and back up to her body, pushing her up so she was simply suspended above the water.  
Again there was the rustling, but it was so much louder and it broke Renita's concentration and in turn, stopping the balanced chakra flow to her arm. Now her eyes snapped open, and she began to panic, because she was aware of how close she really was to the river. Quickly, she calmed herself down and brought her hands together in a 'T' shape while flipping up the right way.  
'_Shadow clone jutsu!'  
_Two more identical Renita's appeared at the water's surface, using their chakra to keep them above the water with their hands braced together, wrist upon forearm. Renita bent her legs and landed on the shadow clones' brace, and they flipped her over to the river bank, where she landed , but overbalanced and fell roughly to the ground, breathing heavily. A small '_pwoof' _was heard and the clones disappeared in a puff of smoke. She lay there panting, her heart rushing but then she remembered why that just happened.  
Clearly someone was following her…

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***Liked it? Tell me what you think. What can I improve, change, what would you like to see? Didn't like it? That's ok. Tell me what you didn't like. I'm not shy for reviews***


	4. A Few New Faces

'I can't believe that I dropped it!' a voice grumbled a short distance 'I'm sure that it has to be around here somewhere. It's where I was yesterday.'  
Renita realised that she had her arm exposed still, and stopped panting so she could listen to how close the voice was, and to hide until she had wrapped herself up again and to find out if it was a friend or foe that was approaching. She rolled over onto her knees and stood up, and scurried quickly away to a large rock to her right and hid behind it. Fossicking around in her vest for her bandages, she found them and commencing wrapping her arm up swiftly and neatly. Peering around the rock, she looked for the source of the rustling.  
It was the blonde haired kid from the other day that she saw with the girl. Renita wondered what he was doing searching the forest down to the smallest detail for.  
'Oh man, Sakura's going to kill me if I can't find it!' his voiced whined, with a tone of frantic panic underlying in it.  
Renita sighed, but it was a lot louder than she had hoped and the kid had heard it, and swiftly threw a kunai in her direction. Just as quickly, Renita threw a needle shuriken at the impending tool, which knocked it off its trajectory. This then put the boy in a defensive state, and he began to slowly walk towards Renita, armed at the ready with another kunai. He was getting closer, but Renita kept her cool, and brought her hands together, with her index and middle fingers stretched upwards and the rest curled into her palms, situating her left hand lower than her right so that they fit comfortably.  
'Tōton Jutsu' she whispered.  
Her body began to lose its volume as she blended into the surface of the rock and the dirt on the ground she was sitting on. Footsteps came closer until the messy, long blonde hair of the young ninja was visible over the sandy, rough surface of the rock Renita was behind. A piercing blue pair of eyes scoped the area, but then relaxed somewhat as he couldn't see any immediate danger. He shook his head and sighed then walked away, oblivious to the fact that he was an inch away from Renita's nose and danger which could have arisen at any second.  
'Ahh, I must be seeing things' he mumbled to himself 'I really need to find that bracelet though'  
_'Bracelet?'_ Renita thought, as she held her right hand over the area of her vest where the bracelet she had found lay concealed. _'I should give it to him then'. _She stood up and began to tail the young boy, while he continued to fossick. She placed a hand on his shoulder and the kid whipped around immediately, after letting out a yelp of fright. His face drained of any colour and his blue eyes widened to the size of saucers. From his point of view, there was no one there, so what he felt must have been a phantom. Realising that she was still transparent, Renita released the jutsu and she began to reappear infront of the heavily spooked ninja.  
He let out a blood-curling shriek and made an attempt to run back towards the village, but tripped over a branch of a bush that he had thrown while he was searching the area. Renita walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.  
'Wait' she said calmly, and sweetly 'I'm not here to hurt you. I think I have what you are looking for.'  
She pulled the delicate item of jewellery from her pocket and placed it into his hands. Still with wide eyes, he inspected the bracelet in his hands, and his eyes slowly began to return to normal and a wide smile grew on his face.  
'Oh wow!' he exclaimed 'I can't believe you found it! I've been looking for it everywhere! (Renita giggled at this moment) Wait, who are you? You're a leaf ninja but I've never seen you before.'  
'I'm new to the village, but my name is Renita Takahashi' Renita chuckled, helping the boy up. 'And who might you be?'  
'Oh. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be the next Hokage!'  
Renita laughed, her voice melodic as silver bells.  
'Well, you've certainly got a long way to go if you keep tripping over obvious things lying around.' She indicated the discarded branch.  
'Aha, well you see' Naruto said, scratching the side of his head with his right index finger 'You kinda scared me with the whole invisibility thing and all…' he trailed off, looking somewhat sheepish, but then smiled again.  
'So what's with the headband anyway? Are you some kind of Kakashi wannabe?  
'Hmm?'  
'Y'know, the way you've got it tipped over your face. Trust me, he's the only person in the village who wears his like that.'  
'Wait, so 'Kakashi' is the _name _of another ninja?'  
'Well obviously. _Everybody_ knows Kakashi-sensei. You'd be insane not to know him.'  
'You're forgetting that I said I'm new, remember?'  
Naruto looked sheepish again at that comment, but brightened up again and started to go into a detailed description of his other sensei.  
'-and he has the stupidest hair I've ever seen. It's like, it's messy, but it's not and it moves off to the side.'  
This description instantly made her remember the other ninja that was staring at her earlier today.  
'_So'_ Renita thought_ 'that's his name…It also explains the comment that the Hokage said'._ So in reply to this, she chuckled again to alleviate the tension the she seemed to have made rise as her gaze went vague, in which Naruto looked at her quizzically, tilting his head to the side like a puppy.  
'I'm still learning names and meeting people' she said.  
'Well, you met me now and I can show you around the village! Have you tried Ichiraku ramen yet? That stuff is the best!'  
'I've got time now if you want something to eat?'  
'Seriously? Oh boy, I'm always up for ramen!'  
'Well, I'll treat you to some then, and you can tell me what was going on with the bracelet'  
'Geez, lady, you're the greatest! Hey, what did you say your name was again?'  
'Renita'  
'I'm just gonna call you call you 'Ren', because it's easier'  
Renita laughed again. 'Sure, why not? Come on Naruto, let's go have this ramen if it's as good as you say it is'

Naruto and Renita sat at the ramen shop, while two steaming bowls of enticing food filled their nostrils, and both eagerly grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the holders infront of them. Naruto immediately began to gulp down his noodles and giggled cheekily. Renita smiled and shook her head slightly, and took a mouthful of noodles. An explosion of flavours and spices seemed to dance on her tastebuds and now her stomach began to growl slightly. Naruto was right, this was amazing ramen. So, she tuckered into her food and happily ate with Naruto.  
'See, I told you that Ichiraku ramen is the best!' Naruto said, after finishing his bowl quickly and sighing with content. 'though, one bowl doesn't fill me up. I should buy another…'  
'Haha, one more bowl of ramen please. Extra pork in this one' Renita said, still on her first bowl.  
'Woah, I sure lucked out meeting you' Naruto exclaimed, a smile spreading across his lit up face.  
'Well, you never did explain to me about the situation with the bracelet.'  
'Oh right. Well, my friend Sakura gave me it to look after, because she was working with dead stuff and she didn't want to get it messy'  
'Dead stuff?' Renita asked, a shadow of worry crossing her face.  
'Oh, she's a medical ninja.'  
'Ah. Continue'  
'So yeah, she gave it to me to hold and it was a gift for her mum or something, and told me to hold it dearly. I was training and I guess that it slipped out of my pocket.'  
'It's a good thing I came along then. It's beautiful.'  
'Yeah, I guess, if you're into that sort of thing' Naruto said, distracted by the new bowl of ramen which just appeared infront of him, courtesy of Teuchi the cook.  
'Just don't drop it again or I don't think that you'll get away with just a yelling at this time' Renita said, finishing her bowl of ramen, extremely satisfied.  
'I won't! I'll guard it with my life! Speaking of talking, you didn't tell me what's up with your headband'  
'Mmm?'  
'What have you got to hide underneath there, or have you been taking tips from Kakashi-sensei?'  
'Did I hear someone talking about me?'  
A voice from behind the two ninjas seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was quite deep, the kind of voice that would soothe any ounce of nerves if ones where to possess any. His voice was smooth like honey, and it sent a small chill of excitement down Renita's spine. She heard Naruto sigh a little between mouthfuls of ramen, and then he stopped eating to turn around, and Renita followed his lead.  
Standing in the open of the store was a tall, lanky man, leaning against the side of the store. He had a relaxed demeanour and a fairly bored look in his eye (since majority of his face was covered by his mask/forehead protector ensemble, his eye said a lot).  
'Oh, hi Kakashi-sensei' Naruto said, a small tone of boredom in his voice 'I was just asking Ren about her headband. I think she's copying you, y'know.' He went back to eating his ramen, slurping noodles quite vigorously.  
Renita studied Kakashi closely, but did so without drawing too much attention to the fact she was doing it.  
'So' Kakashi began, slouching a little more against the wall ''Ren'. That's an unusual name'  
'It's Renita actually. Naruto here just made it shorter because it was easier to say' she chuckled slightly.  
'Good old Naruto, finding the easy way to do things' Kakashi said, pulling himself off the wall and taking the seat next to Renita. He picked up her unused napkin and began twiddling with it.  
'I've never seen you around the village before, but I'm pretty certain that you would be sick of hearing that.'  
'I'm getting used to it, but it won't stay around forever.'  
'That's a wise way to see it. So tell me, how did you end up with my young student dragging you to here?'  
'I found something of his, and he was pretty wrapt, and wanted to show me around the village. So far we've made it to…here.'  
Kakashi laughed, still playing with the smooth white napkin.  
'Naruto has a good heart, but he is ruled by his stomach'  
'He seems alright' Renita said, smiling.  
'Guys, I'm still here' Naruto whined slightly, now finishing his bowl of ramen and stacking the empty bowls all together in a neat pile to be collected.  
'Naruto'' Kakashi said, briefly stopping his fiddling and looking at the young ninja 'Why don't you go home? It's getting darker and I think you've taken enough of Ren's time.'  
'But-but' he protested, weakly.  
'Naruto' Kakashi's voice grew stern and his eye hardened into a gaze.  
'Ehh…alright, fine' Naruto grumbled 'Thanks for everything Ren!' He ran out of the store, leaving the bracelet sparkling on the counter. Renita waved at him and smiled.  
_'Sweet kid'_ she thought to herself and turned to Kakashi again, who was once again playing with the napkin, twisting it this way and that. The difference was that he now looked a little down, and a small portion of his eye seemed to be swallowed up by a remaining, troublesome thought that was locked deep in the recesses of his mind, and it made the deep navy/black of his eye almost glow.  
'Can I ask you something, Renita?' Kakashi asked, lowering his voice.  
'Sure, I suppose' she replied, wondering what he was going to ask that would make this dramatic change in mood.  
'I won't lie to you. You're quite striking, but what do you hide under your headband, or is there a deeper reason why you wear it the same as I do?'  
He was quite forward with his curiosity, but it didn't seem like he would use it for manipulative purposes.  
'I…uhh…' she stammered 'I'm not ready to divulge that just yet' she finished, feeling guilty for not sharing more about herself. There was this air of mystery that surrounded Kakashi, and she so desperately wanted to know more. She wanted to crack the super-cool shell of this being and peer at the inner feelings that he possessed. In fact, she was now overwhelmed with a sudden, hungry desire to know _everything_ about this ninja.  
Kakashi acknowledged the deflected question and didn't press any more on the matter. He wanted to, but if he wanted to know the situation with this girl, he couldn't come on so strong and scare her off, or he'll never get anything out of her.  
'Understandable' Kakashi replied 'I wouldn't want to share everything of myself to a stranger'  
'Considering that we both live in the same village, you're bound to find out eventually.'  
'I like the sound of that. Well, I better get going. Naruto left this bracelet behind, so I better find him before Sakura rips out a lung of his.'  
Kakashi stood up and picked the bracelet up in his right hand and kept his left hand leaning on the counter. His eye turned up into a crescent as he smiled and waved goodbye to Renita with his right hand, gripping the bracelet gently. He walked out the store, while collecting his book from his vest and walking off, fixated on his reading as he casually walked away, a sort of slouch accompanying his walk somehow.  
Renita collected the bill from Ayame, the pretty daughter of Teuchi who worked in the ramen store and thanked her for the wonderful food. Something caught Renita's eye and as she looked at it, her heart felt like it melted slightly, and a shock of lightning coursed through her entire being added with a tickling feeling.  
Sitting next to her where his hand had been was the napkin.  
It was a water lily…

Renita woke up early, and the sun was just roughly a centimetre above the horizon. This was the perfect time for a run, so she stumbled out of bed and gathered her vest and pants and dressed in a groggy manner. The brisk air would freshen her up definitely, so she didn't complain about waking up so early. It was peaceful as she strolled through the streets and then out the gates of the village. Beginning with a trot and then a canter, she then broke into a fierce run, jumping into the branches of the trees and leaping from bough to bough. They were far enough apart to have to think about the distance between each and extended the muscles in the legs, right down to the bottom of the calves. It was a good morning stretch, and she reckoned that she would definitely feel more limber after it.  
The sun was rising quicker than she thought, and she didn't want to miss the perfect moment to view it, so she started to kick into a faster pace, the wind lashing at her face now and giving her apple cheek. She twisted this way and that between the trees, winding her way deeper into the forest and steadily making her way up a hill. If she got to the top, she could watch the sunrise in a perfect spot, high above the village and open to feel all of the sun's morning warmth. What Renita didn't realise was that there was another person with the same intentions, except that they were coming the other way to head to a same place.  
Before it was too late, the two bodies collided in mid-air and in a mixture of grunts and a clunking of heads, they both hit the ground heavily.  
'Arrggh…..urrhmmm….' Renita groaned, feeling an extra weight from her chest and below. She tried to get up, but the weight on top of her was too much in her sudden state. She opened her eyes and saw on top of her, another shinobi from the leaf village. He had brown hair wrapped up in a tight pony tail, and wore the same vest/navy ensemble as she did.  
The body on top of her groaned as well and lifted his head up to see what he had fallen on, and his eyes widened in a horrified expression.  
He was lying on top of another shinobi, and if someone were to come across them at this very time, they would think that there was a suggestive and private moment going on by the way he was positioned on top of her. Their eyes met and in an instant, a deep red had flushed their cheeks and they scrambled away from each other. Renita had to admit, this shinobi was certainly a handsome one, including the scar that ran along from his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. She gulped, and felt even more embarrassed for making such a stupid move.  
It was the other ninja that spoke first.  
'Oh, I'm so sorry about that!' he exclaimed, crawling over to Renita, still blushing madly. His voice was quite mature even though he seemed to be relatively young. 'I haven't seen you around her before, but you're dressed in leaf shinobi gear. Can I ask your name?  
'Oh….right' Renita stammered 'Ah, my name is Renita Takahashi….I'm new to the village'  
"I see' the other shinobi said 'Well, I can help you if you need. My name is Iruka Umino. Let me help you up' he offered, extending his hand. He was smiling a very cute smile, almost like a young boy would give, and it made Renita feel a little squirmy on the inside.  
_'What an adorable name_' Renita thought as she reached out to accept Iruka's offer of help. The minute that her hand was in his, they both unknowingly felt the same stroke of lightning run through their insides and fill them with a small tickling sensation…

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***Liked it? Tell me what you think. What can I improve, change, what would you like to see? Didn't like it? That's ok. Tell me what you didn't like. I'm not shy for reviews***


	5. I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours…

The two quickly pulled their hands away from each other. Like a simultaneous reaction, they smiled meekly at each other, and flushed more. There was a sense of awkwardness in the air between them, and neither spoke to each other for what seemed like an eternity. It was Iruka that spoke first again.  
'So…' he began, rubbing the back of his head and smiling at Renita 'What were you doing out here at this time of the morning?'  
'I could say the same thing to you' Renita replied swiftly, smiling at Iruka so it didn't seem like it she was snapping at him. True, her head hurt but she knew it would go away soon. 'But I was on my way to watch the sunrise and well, now I'm here with you.'  
_'Here with you'_  
The words echoed around Iruka's head, and he couldn't help but feel a squirming sensation in the pit of his stomach because of it. He liked the feeling, and he knew that those three words would haunt him for the rest of the night, along with her melodic voice and an image of the beautiful blues in her eyes, which seem to strike deep into his subconscious to reside there. A part of him wished that those words were true, but he wasn't sure of the reason entirely. Instead, he laughed, a little nervously but attempted to dissolve the remaining tension and awkwardness.  
'Judging by the sky' he said, looking at the sky slowly turning from navy to a salmon pink 'If we run at full speed we can make it in time to still see it.'  
Renita grinned, a mischievous look forming in her eye.  
'Race you?'  
Iruka grinned more, lighting up his face.  
'You're on. Meet you at the ghost gum tree at the top. You can't miss it'  
A 'swooshing' sound and the two shinobi had sped off at high speeds, going on two different paths but smiling like a Cheshire cat all the way. Renita bounded over the boughs of the trees with the quickest of ease, like a gazelle with its majestic movements and perfect precision. She could see the shadow of Iruka just up ahead of her, so she tried to run at a faster pace, which was hard considering that she felt as if she was running at full capacity already. With the wind in her face still, and her cheeks only pink again from the apple cheek, she laughed heartily, because for the first time since she had arrived at the village, she was having genuine fun, and all it took was a clashing in mid-air. Ironic.  
Out of the corner of his eye, Iruka could see Renita's form. She was catching up, and he noted to himself the remarkable grace she kept as she was running. He let his eyes run over her, drinking in every curve and form of her appearance. She was stunning in his eyes, and he wondered how he could have missed a leaf shinobi like her in the village of Konoha at all. He thought he knew all of the chuunin and jōnin, and yet here he was mistaken, and she was living proof that he was wrong. He was still running over his own set of trees, enjoying the wind lashing at his face and pushing his pony-tail back in a streamlined effect, but he was still staring at Renita.  
_'God she's gorgeous'_ he thought to himself, misjudging a landing on the next branch and staggering slightly and barely stopping himself before he ran into a low-hanging branch. It was chillier this morning, and he suddenly had a random thought of wrapping his arms around this girl while standing and watching the sunrise together with her. He snapped out of his daydream, but not quick enough before leaping straight into another tree infront of him. He ricocheted back onto a lower bough while pain filled his face and the space in between his eyes. He watched Renita's shadow blaze on ahead, and he knew that he lost the race. Still, he picked himself up and ran on, shaking his head a bit to try and clear the blurriness out of his eyes. He ran on until he had reached the top of the mountain, and to no surprise, Renita was waiting there on the ghost gum, sitting in the spot in the highest branches in exactly the same spot where he liked to sit. Funny, he didn't mind that there was someone else there, even if he didn't know this girl personally yet. Just butted heads in an unfortunate scenario. Iruka eventually caught up, and sat down next to her. She turned around and smiled wide at him and then just laughed at his current state.  
'A, I just beat you and B, you have a giant red welt on your forehead' (Iruka's hand flew up to cover the top of his head, once again blushing at his own actions). Renita just laughed harder at this, and sighed a deep breath, which seemed to fill her with a cleansing feeling. Renita felt that if she was able to, she could fly. She was simply happy and she hadn't felt proper laughter in such a long time, years even. She laced her fingers behind her back and watched the sunrise. Its gold and crimson rays crawling across the valley, like fingers stretching and claiming every expanse of land as its own and removing any trace of shadow which cloaked the landscape beforehand. Iruka was both watching the sunrise and looking at Renita in swift, inconspicuous movements of his eyes. This was the first morning that he had enjoyed the most, and all it took was a stranger. Admittedly, he thought that she was more interesting than the sunrise, but never had he been surrounded by such beauty in his life. Again, he got embarrassed and the two sat in silence, waiting for nature to finish its early morning display.  
'So how long have you been coming here, Iruka?'  
'A few years. I come here every morning just to watch the sunrise and to clear my head'  
'That's poetic in itself, really. Though I get what you mean'  
'You'd be the first person that does'  
'Well, I'm here to stay so perhaps we can make this an annual thing. Besides, it'll be good for us to get to know each other more'  
The two of them smiled at each other.  
'Sounds great. Anyways, I have to run off now. I have a class to teach. Why don't you drop by the academy later and I can introduce you to the other members of staff'  
'Sure, I'd love that'  
_'So would I'_ Iruka thought, standing up and stretching towards the sky and waving goodbye to Renita, who was still sitting down and looking up him, her eye sparkling in the morning sun. A beautiful picture in itself, and he lost his train of thought just by looking at it.  
He then jumped from the bough and ran off back down the way it came, but the thought of Renita sitting on the ghost gum and next to him stayed in his thoughts all the way down, and he couldn't help but feel that sensational feeling of electricity running through him and the squirming sensation in his stomach.  
*******

Renita had to admit, the village was full of surprises. Thinking that she was on her way to the academy, she accidentally took a wrong turn down a narrow side street and ended up in another clearing with a rather solitary building constructed in the very centre. Curiosity gained the best of her and she pushed the front door slightly and poked her head in.  
'At last! I have been waiting for you!'  
A shadow of a figure was sitting in the middle of the darkened room in a lotus position, as if meditating. It took less than a second and then they were gone, faster than the time it took for Renita's eyes to adjust to the sudden change in lighting.  
A sudden blow to the back of her neck, between where the skull connects to the spine and the bone which juts out slightly forced Renita to stumble properly into the room and she staggered terribly across the wooden floor. She had no idea what was going on, but her assailant seemed fixated on attacking. Their speed was incredible, and she was pummelled in each direction at every available point on her body.  
She had no choice.  
This attacker wasn't stopping, and it felt to Renita as if it was either live or die, and there was no way she was going to let this mysterious person get the best of her. No way in the world. She jumped, propelled by her new found adrenaline and managed to dodge another would-be blow to her calves, and took her protective wrappings on her arm, and once again brought out the gashes where she could control powerful sound waves at any moment. Her feet hit the ground and she sprang off again backwards, flipping as she did. She extended her arm outwards to the left, making a 'half-t' shape and propelled wide waves across the room, in an attempt to both attack the fighter and avoid being attacked. Her attacks missed though, which only seemed to spur on this unknown competitor even more.  
'You indeed have an interesting jutsu, but it is no match for my tai-jutsu!'  
The voice of this attacker was young, and seemed to have an almost squeaky tone to it, but it was definitely a male. Renita tried to locate him, though the room was still dark. A walloping kick just then uppercut her chin and she was sent flying into the air, temporarily paralysed from sheer bewilderment.  
Now there really was no choice.  
Managing to control her fly-away right hand, she lifted the forehead protector and revealed the part of her face that she felt needed to remain hidden from the world.  
A scar ran along her eye, beginning at the lining of her eyebrow and deeply gashing across her eyelid and down to the edge of her cheek. It was shaped like a 'z', the kicks curly as if a fancy font had been struck into her face. The scar was not the important thing though, but they eye itself. The iris was a violent purple, with a blazing orange twist hugging the pupil. It was as if a living, dancing flame had been removed from a fire and forcefully placed in the depths of the iris, connecting into her internal network. It glowed a vibrant orange, but was yellow around the edges and with small dots running through it. It was hypnotic just to see it. She forced herself to roll over in mid-air, just in time to catch her competitor off guard, and stared into his eyes with a piercing gaze, and sent an air piercing ping sound from her mouth, almost like submarine sonar would make but pitched three octaves higher. It froze the attacker in an instant, and a look mixed with fear and surprise was stricken into his face. Renita finally got a look at him, and her eyes widened in horror.  
He was young, he had to be only a genin. He had thick, sleek black hair in a bowl cut, and (Renita found this a little humorous) thick, caterpillar eyebrows. He was dressed in a moss-green uni-tard with orange leg warmers, and heavily wrapped bandages on his arms too. The thing that scared Renita the most was the expression on his face, and she knew it all too well, but she couldn't stop her attack on him until she was at least firmly on the ground. The genin hit the floor with a shattering blow, and started to splutter uncontrollably, gasping but unable to clutch at his throat or windpipe. He was in pain and Renita knew it, and she felt sick and cold inside, as if an icy grip had suddenly found its way into her insides and was squeezing at every space available.  
How could she do this to a _genin?  
_The young ninja was strangling from the inside out, and his eyes were beginning to close and roll back towards his head, making an inhumane gurgling from his windpipe. Renita closed her eyes and concentrated harder than ever before to release the kekkei genkai imposed on him and willed it to stop, as a bead of sweat slowly creeped out from her forehead protector and down her face, leaving a glistening path down the left-hand side of her face and where it dropped to the floor, after clinging with a valiant effort to her skin. It seemed to have worked, because the genin was no longer making noises of pain, but it may have been too late, because he wasn't breathing. She ran and scooped up him up, feeling his body go limp as she cradled him into her chest. Simultaneously running and flicking her forehead protector down over her eye, she sprinted back through the side street and didn't stop once until she had reached the hospital and burst through the double door entrance, practically screaming for help. Medical ninja seemed to appear from every direction and surrounded Renita, talking so loudly and together that it all seemed like white noise growing until it had filled her head unbearably, like a rush-hour traffic had invaded her and would refuse to settle.  
'Just…take….him!' she gasped, relinquishing the poor boy to the hands of the medical ninja and collapsing in a ball on the floor, cramming her eyes shut and gripping at her head until the voices had gone away down the hallway, subduing the growing tension in her mind.  
Two hands gently picked her up under her armpits and held her close to their chest, the pockets of a shinobi vest gently prodding into her shoulders. They embraced her and she could hear a heartbeat, calming and repetitive, and it slowly worked its magic and brought her shuddering coughs and hiccups to a stop until she was breathing normally again.  
'Let's take a walk' Kakashi whispered, leaning his head on hers and cradling her head with one arm and the other holding her closer to his chest.

Kakashi took her to a secluded green area behind the village gates, and pulled her down with him so they were sitting on the bank of a river, its grassy matt comfortable and tickling their legs slightly through the material of their pants. Renita was pale as a ghost, looking at the ground with her mouth shut tightly in a grim, severe line. She didn't care that her arm was still exposed, and Kakashi's eye travelled over it, taking in every detail and blemish.  
'Renita' he began, his low voice calm and collected 'what happened?'  
Renita took a shuddering breathe inward, and exhaled heavily.  
'He….he attacked me… and I didn't….I didn't know what to do. I thought that…I-I-it felt like…it was going to end badly on my terms…'  
'What I need to know exactly is what happened in combat.'  
'Who was the boy?'  
'Afterwards. Please Ren-'  
'Now!' Renita snapped, finally looking at Kakashi's face. He wasn't offended by this outburst, because all he wanted to do was help her.  
'His name is Rock Lee' he said, simply.  
Renita dropped her eyes back to the ground, looking at the grass and how it waved gently up at the two of them in the breeze.  
_'Rock Lee, huh?' _She thought to herself, knowing that he would haunt her for some time. _'I just hope he'll be ok…_'  
She felt Kakashi's hand on top of hers, and realised that her knuckles were white while piercing the palm of her hand with her nails, which was drawing blood.  
'Renita, please tell me what happened' Kakashi said, lowering his head and peering up at her through a part of his hair which had flopped down slightly in a cute fashion. Renita's shoulders relaxed and she couldn't help but admire the position he was in. She still felt terrible, but after all, she was human, and had her own emotions to deal with when it came to men. Without a word, she lifted her forehead protector. Kakashi's eye widened only the smallest bit at the eye underneath, and the miraculous scar embedded into the skin.  
'It's my kekkei genkai.' Renita said, looking ashamed. 'It's a powerful one, and I didn't realise that he was a genin'  
'What does it do?'  
'I have the ability to infiltrate the inner workings of the human body. I can attack the nervous system and scramble messages to and from the brain, or I could contract the muscles so the victim can't defend themselves. I can do whatever I wish to it…even manipulate the pulse of someone's heart…' she trailed off, and looked at Kakashi again. He could see that it this was hard for her to admit, and all he wanted to do was hug her again, and never let her go. He still had things to get from her, so that moment would have to wait. He pressed on, coaxing the information he wanted to get from her.  
'And what exactly was it you did this time?'  
Another shuddering breath, but Renita willed herself to relax. She needed to settle, and she hated to appear weak infront Kakashi, even though she knew he was trying to help.  
'This time…I-I… I paralysed his muscles and cut off the circulation of oxygen around his body… His lungs would have been collapsing…' She trailed off, breaking into gulps of air and breaking down entirely into uncontrollable sobs. This time, Kakashi knew that he had to take the opportunity. He slid his left arm across her body and pulled her into him via the small of her back, while his right arm sneaked through under her armpit and held the back of her neck, all the while holding her close to his shoulder where she cried heavily into it, tears rolling off of the vest in wayward directions. Kakashi moved his legs into a comfortable position with his legs at an angle and then shifted Renita closer to him so her face could bury itself in his chest if need be, while her legs fit neatly on top of his, like two matching pieces of a puzzle. He wished that whatever else had made her like this would go away, or he could stop it. Instead, he compromised to stroking her hair, letting it catch slightly between his fingers before letting it go. He rocked her slightly, as if a father would soothe a young child into a slumber, and to ease her from crying so heavily.  
They sat there together for quite some time, and Kakashi was selfishly treasuring every moment he had with her, even if she was as upset as this, but since he had first saw her, she had stayed on his mind every night and he desired to know more about her, no matter what it took. He continued to stroke her hair, and almost made this sort of purring sensation deep in his chest. Renita's tears were slowing then fell to a few sniffles, burying her face in his chest. Kakashi clutched her tighter in an embrace which silently said his new found feelings for her, but they were oblivious to Renita. He gently tipped her head back to look at her, and then he felt cold.  
She wasn't breathing anymore.  
Panic welled up in his stomach, but he forbid it to grow any larger. Scoping the area, he remembered that Iruka's house was the closest familiar landmark. He held Renita in the bridal position and turned her inwards to his body, so she was protected from any oncoming dangers or debris as he ran to Iruka's house.

Renita snuggled in deeper to the blankets, their warm fibres pressing against her silky smooth skin. She felt a little more…freer than she normally did when she slept, like something was missing compared to other nights…  
She rubbed her eyes, and kept her arms raised against a pillow, letting the cooler air breathe against the skin on her arm as she slowly began to wake up. There wasn't any constraint from the strap of her thin singlet she wore to bed every night…in fact, there wasn't _any_ strap at all…  
Worried slightly, she sat up, and the blanket moved up with her still covering her chest and below. She peeked down at her body below the covers.  
She was completely bare.  
Renita snapped awake, her eyes darting about the room, which she did not recognise at all. Where in the world was she?  
A pounding headache attacked her temples, and she let out a small gasp of pain, and her left hand raced up to have her palm lie flat against her forehead. Her left eye was covered by the angle that her hand  
'Oh, you're awake' a voice said a little while away.  
Iruka appeared at the doorway, fully dressed and smiling. 'Did you sleep any better?'  
'IRUKA, WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES?'  
Iruka blushed a deep crimson, and pointed towards the dresser. He then realised that he needed to avert his eyes from Renita at all costs, or he would end up in the intensive care ward of the hospital. He turned around immediately and covered his eyes with both of his hands, his palms pressed against his eyeballs with quite an amount of force that he was beginning to see small white dots against the black of his eyelids, but he didn't dare take them away until she had finished.  
The sound of a zipper being pulled up against the top of its teeth was heard and Renita called that she was dressed and he could turn around now. He released the pressure on his eyes and blinked a few times to rid the white speckles in his vision and turned to look at her, realising that he missed his chance to see the left half of her face. He mentally slapped himself for that.  
'Iruka, what's going on' Renita said in a small voice a whisper, feeling a little vulnerable for being in such a state infront of the other ninja.  
'I'll tell you everything that happened' Iruka said, trying to calm Renita down by keeping his voice sweet and mellow. It was working on her slightly 'Please, just sit down, and I'll tell you everything…'

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***Liked it? Tell me what you think. What can I improve, change, what would you like to see? Didn't like it? That's ok. Tell me what you didn't like. I'm not shy for reviews***


	6. The True Loyalty of Friends

**Okey doke, so here's chapter 5. (Huzzah)  
So, if anyone actually manages to get this far, I would really appreciate some reviews if you have the time. I'm pretty strong so hit me with anything :P  
Thanks for reading this!**

* * *

All Kakashi could hear were Renita's restless movements and the screams that emitted from her in the room furthest away. They rang about in his head and he couldn't bear it anymore. He was sitting on the couch, elbows resting on his knees and his hand clasped firmly and propped against his forehead, for his face was bent down and he stared at the floor. His muscles were tense from lack of sleep and tightened with every moment from worry.  
A single betraying tear slid loose from his right eyelid, slowly trailing down his face and dissolving in the mesh of his material. It was then that the almighty shell of Kakashi Hatake began to crack and an outpour of tears erupted, and he neither wished for them to stop, nor would he be able to, because he was powerless to help the one he had grown so fond of. Renita was in a place that he could not venture into, and he could not protect her from the agony which ensued in both her mind and body.  
He cried for everything to be ok, because he was now addicted to something, and she was the only thing that he had ever felt a connection to. She was a drug to him, and he knew perfectly well that she could only lead to trouble, but he couldn't stop being human. In every tear that was shed from his eyes, a little more of the pain inside left his body and seeped into the floor, for his mask had become sodden quickly from the outbreak. He could now physically and emotionally step on everything else in his life that had hurt him, because right now, nothing was as important to him as the girl in the room beyond, however young she was. It was right now he confirmed all of his suspicions which had haunted him for the past week.  
He loved her.  
He couldn't hear much over his crying, so he didn't notice Iruka walk in the room and stop infront of him. Iruka looked at the shinobi, confused as what to do for he had never seen him in this state. Ever.  
His heart when out to him, and he put his hand on his shoulder, which caused Kakashi to jump slightly and look up at Iruka, feeling weak at his emotional display which wasn't intended for others to see. Kakashi's eye was pink and his eyelid puffy from the tears, which had made his eyes sting slightly. Both of the men stared at one another, and an understanding immediately made its way between them. This was never to leave this room. Iruka smiled at Kakashi with his 'cute-boy' smile.  
'Kakashi' Iruka whispered 'She's awake'  
He nearly knocked Iruka over with the speed of his jump and he bounded off the couch, wanting to run into the other room and never let her go again. Iruka whipped infront of him and stopped him by holding his hands up, like a jockey would stop a spooked horse.  
'Don't go rushing in just yet!'  
'Why? I need to see her!'  
'You will, just…calm down.'  
'Why?' Kakashi's movements were frantic, and he was trying to push his way past the smaller ninja, but his attempts were fruitless. Although he was smaller, Iruka was putting up quite a defensive barrier.  
'She's just woken up and…' Iruka swallowed hard.  
'And what?'  
'She's pretty embarrassed at the moment, because I… caught her without anything on' He turned bright red, wincing as if he was expecting a punch to the face at this. Instead, there was this ominous awkwardness between the two, and while Kakashi then blushed a vibrant pink, Iruka glowed a deep maroon and both just stood in silence, the occasional sniffle from Kakashi.  
'Well…yeah. So, let's just be…quiet when we go in.' Iruka said, his eyes avoiding Kakashi.  
'Yeah…alright' Kakashi said, face still burning and wiping his eye just a bit more to dry.  
The two walked down to the far end of the room, and Iruka knocked on the door this time, and Renita's voice called for them to come in. The two entered and Renita was sitting on the bed, though she had made it neat and tidy. She looked worn out, and she smiled weakly to them in the doorway. Her heart started to go faster at the sight of Kakashi and Iruka together, and she blushed a little at the two of them. As she looked at Kakashi, she noticed his eye was pink and the eyelid red, and she wondered what had been going on.  
'Are you going to tell me what's going on now?' she said, her voice soft, and it caused a ripple to run through the two men. How they loved her voice, the way it seemed to dance across the air and rest in their ears.  
'Where do you want to begin?' Kakashi said.  
'Well, where am I and how did I get here?'  
'You're at my place' Iruka said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, and Kakashi went and leaned on the desk to his left, infront of a window that had the curtain pulled across.  
'And I brought you here' he said, folding his arms across his chest.  
'So _why_ am I here exactly?'  
Iruka looked at Kakashi to let him explain.  
'Well, do you remember when we were talking by the river?'  
'Yeah… It was yesterday.'  
'It's actually been a week becau-'  
'WHAT?'  
'You passed out on me and you had stopped breathing.'  
Renita looked at both of them, her head darting from one side to the other as if she was watching a tennis match.  
'Okay, okay…tell me what happened next'  
'Well, Iruka's place was the closest landmark that I felt comfortable leaving you. So, I had to break in and I put you to bed.'  
'So it was you that took my clothes off?' (Kakashi blushed a deep red at this, and mentally wished that it _was_ him that did it)  
'Aha, no. I didn't' he said, scratching head, his hair matted and tangled. 'It was Lady Tsunade that was'  
Renita slumped at this news. She was so confused.  
'I ran to the Hokage because I didn't know what to do, and I figured that she'd be able to help you…more than I could.' He sighed at this, a knot in his stomach growing because he wanted to be the hero for her.  
'I was waiting at the academy for you to show up when Kakashi came and told me what happened' Iruka said, seeing a moment to stop any tension from rising up. 'I dismissed the class early and came back here as soon as I found out, while he went and fetched Lady Tsunade'  
'So… what happened to me?'  
'She said that your heart had suffered an internal rupture, and that it was probably due to a traumatic state.' Iruka looked a little confused at this point, but he didn't dare ask Kakashi anything infront of her. He knew that the other shinobi was hiding something, but he cared too much about Renita more than anything right now. 'She also said that at the rate you were thrashing about, if you kept any of your clothes on, you would end up strangling yourself, which is why (he paused, swallowing guiltily)…yeah. Kakashi never left this house, in case you woke up because he wanted someone to be here when you did.'  
Renita looked at Kakashi with a look that melted his heart. She was looking at him with such gratitude and affection that he wanted to photograph it just so he could be able to look at it again and again. His eye curved up a bit, because he was smiling and invisible smile underneath his mask. He was tired, and it showed, but both Renita and Iruka kept quiet about it.  
Renita sat there quietly, taking in everything that she had heard, and processing it through her head. _Traumatic experience..._  
She remembered dreaming about her past, and how it felt so real as if it was happening again. An image of a boy's face which was smiling and then changed to an open mouth surprised and horrified expression. Screams filled her head and the white noise that happened in the hospital the other day began as a low hum and then began to grow louder and louder as she thought deeper about it. She winced and clutched at her head, letting a gasp of pain escape her lips.  
Both Kakashi and Iruka scrambled over to her, each holding her either side and she felt the two hands warm her back where there palms rested. She peered at them and smiled weakly.  
'I'm ok guys…really'  
'Are you sure?' both of them answered simultaneously, looking at each other and the realisation that both of them felt for her in the same way dawned on them.  
'Yeah, I'm alright.' She said, taking her hands away from her head and resting them in her lap.  
'I can't thank you two enough for everything that you've done.' She said, looking at the faces of both of them. She leaned over and gave Iruka a hug, slipping a peck on the cheek as she did so and then hugged Kakashi, also giving him a peck, though his was more underneath his eye due to the mask being in the way. Both of the shinobi had a hand fly up to the spot where her lips had been, and smiled at her.  
'You must be starving.' Iruka said. 'I'll go make you some food'. He stood and walked out of the room, the clattering of pots and pans making their way into the room as he prepared a meal for her to eat.  
'Thankyou so much Iruka' she said, sighing and leaning back into the pillows. Kakashi sighed with relief, finally knowing that she was ok.  
'Kakashi?' Renita whispered.  
'Yes?'  
'Go get some sleep.' She said, looking at him with a small smile. 'Thankyou for everything.'  
As much as Kakashi didn't want to leave, he knew that she was right, and that the best thing for him was to go and sleep. It took all of his strength to lift himself from the edge of the bed, but before he left, he pushed a lock of her hair that had fallen over her right eye behind her ear, letting his fingertips lightly caress her cheek on the way down. He left without a word and she closed her eyes, breathing in heavily and sighing, realising that she could not have done anything without the aid of these two. In her heart, she knew that they had become intertwined into her life, and there was no way they were going to leave.  
***

As Kakashi walked away from Iruka's place, his hands in his pockets, head bowed at the ground but still maintaining his slacked demeanour, he couldn't stop thinking about how hard it was to walk away from Renita and how broken she looked just sitting there. There was this dense feeling in the pit of his stomach that wouldn't go away, no matter how hard he tried, but there it sat, festering and gnawing away at him through every hour of the night. He was relieved at the fact that she was ok, but now he knew that Iruka felt the same about her, and he wasn't sure how to prepare himself for that. Iruka was his friend, a dear friend at that, but he also didn't want to relinquish his chance with Renita, if there was one. If Iruka was with her, he would be happy for them, but then what would he do? He'd never been so fixated on one entity in his own life, and he wanted to keep it all to himself. It was selfish to think that way, but what else could he do? Nothing like this would ever come around again, and he felt like she was the missing link in his life; the one that could hold him as he slept and comfort him when he was the one in need, instead of relying on his _Icha Icha Paradisu_ books to take him away from reality.  
As he walked through one of the many streets that made the village a maze, he wasn't focused at all on where exactly it was he was heading. His destination was indeed his apartment, but he found himself wandering further and further away from his home, aimlessly heading into the outskirts, where the wind grew colder and sharper. It sent Kakashi's hair into a tangle, and he thought to himself that it was going to take a while to brush the knots out and get his normal fluffiness again. He was still walking, trudging mostly, when he came across a ramshackle building, with its panels of wood falling off and shattered windows. Something about this building drew his interest, though he needed to get home to sleep, after being awake with worry for a week. Denying any voice of reason that was screaming at him to go home, he walked to the front door and pushed the door lightly, letting it swing open of its own accord.  
There was a thick layer of dust over the floor, except sets of footprints which disrupted the dust, travelled from the front door, across the floor and down into a dark corridor, leading to an unknown destination. His curiosity grew, and he stepped into the same footprints, but his feet were slightly bigger than those, so he caused the clean spaces in the floor to meld into one another. Kakashi's feet made a soft '_pad_' sound on the floor was he walked slowly and carefully down the corridor, following each footstep with intense curiosity. He was lead into a small room that had been fixed up enough to maintain a living area. The windows had been replaced with another complete sheet of glass from somewhere in the house, and the wood panelling on the walls nailed up enough to keep the wind and rain out. The bed was strategically placed under the window, so when it was sunny outside, the light would filter in and warm the host. Kakashi felt rude for intruding on someone's home but as he was turning to go home, he saw something that stopped him dead in his tracks.  
Placed delicately on the pillow was the napkin water lily that he himself had folded, and he suddenly knew who it was that lived here. He then lay on the low bed and rested his head on the pillow, staring at the delicate little lily still in pristine condition. He sighed and closed his eyes and curled his knees up to his chest, at last finally falling to sleep.

Renita didn't realise how hungry she really was as she was gulping down the soup that Iruka had made for her. It was delicious, and it spread comfortable warmth throughout her body and rested satisfyingly in her belly. She exhaled with satisfaction and hugged the empty bowl to her, soaking in the residual warmth in the ceramic to her body. Iruka smiled at her.  
'It was alright then?' he asked.  
'Alright would have to be the understatement of the year. It was amazing!' she replied, a large grin spreading across her face.  
Iruka chuckled and took the bowl from her to wash it up 'I'm glad you liked it. It's nice to see you awake and with us again.'  
Renita seemed to deflate a bit at this news, and her smile faded from her face.  
'Iruka?'  
'Yeah?'  
'How bad was it when I was…'asleep'?'  
Iruka's smile also dropped, and he seemed to don a parental look about him. It was kind, but serious and his gaze looked deep into his subject.  
'Honestly, it was bad to hear. We were told not to come in to you unless it was an emergency or you…had stopped screaming'  
'I was screaming?'  
'You were. Can I ask you something?'  
'Sure'  
'What was going on in there?'  
Renita looked embarrassed as she remembered the images that had replayed in her head. Her temples started to throb slightly but she didn't want to make Iruka worry about her again.  
'I don't really want to talk about it right now' she said, looking at her hands folded comfortably in her lap. She wanted to tell him, she really did, but inside she felt that it was going to be too painful to do so at this point in time.  
'It's ok I understand' Iruka replied, placing his hand on her left arm. He hadn't seen it before, but the ridges in her arm looked painful to him, though she never seemed to show that it hurt. He ran his fingers over the ridges, letting them fall into the crevasses softly until he had traced the entire arm. He was scanning it with his deep brown eyes, and he marvelled at the way her skin stayed soft and smooth like velvet. It sent chills up his spine just thinking about that, but knowing that she didn't stop him and that she was right infront of him doubled the intensity of these chilling ripples which were going to keep him distracted for the rest of the afternoon, along with other personal thoughts about this curvaceous kunoichi…  
'Iruka?'  
It was Renita's voice that snapped him out of his fantasy, and he took his hand back and leaned on his elbows to listen to her.  
'I need to cover it' (she indicated to her arm) 'do you have any bandages?'  
'Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's a roll in the first-aid kit. Let me find some for you'  
Renita smiled at him again, feeling relieved he didn't pressure her to tell him about her dreams.  
'Thanks a bunch' she said, watching him walk away into his bathroom and thinking over how lucky she was to have someone that she could trust. Iruka returned with a roll of bandages and wrapped her arm for her, rolling the material between his fingers with an expert motion and swinging it up and over her limb in a perfect rising swirl. He tucked the end securely into the layers with a successful 'ah'.  
'Wow' Renita said, admiring the skill in the wrapping 'that's the best it's ever been.'  
'I have a lot of practice with the children at school when we do kunai practice' Iruka chuckled.  
Renita laughed her tinkly laugh, and it sent the squirming sensation shooting into Iruka's stomach again. She put her left hand on the top of his head and ruffled his hair.  
'I really need to go, darling' she said, looking at him and grinning wide. 'I can't thank you enough for your hospitality'. She wriggled down the bed and hopped up off, stretching up towards the roof, hearing a satisfying bunch of clicks travel through her back. She looked over her shoulder at him with a cute smile 'I'll visit the academy tomorrow like I promised'.  
'Aha, that's alright. Just stay safe ok?'  
'Promise' she winked at him, leaving the shinobi to stare at her back as she gracefully and silently walked away out of his place.  
She needed to see a particular genin at the hospital.

* * *

***Liked it? Tell me what you think. What can I improve, change, what would you like to see? Didn't like it? That's ok. Tell me what you didn't like. I'm not shy for reviews***


	7. Redemption

**Ok ! So the new chapter is here guys and gals!  
So, basically I will be updating this story on a weekly basis, and sometimes I may update earlier if I simply can't wait to see people reading it and any reviews that all of you lovely people write! :D**

**If you've made it this far, I am so happy you've stayed with the story! It means so much to me and I would absoloutely love ANYfeedback whatsoever. Don't be shy to message me as well. I'm always up for a chat!**

**Yours sincerely,  
JWindMaker **

* * *

The air was crisp in the village, the first signs that winter was fast approaching. To Renita, it felt weird to be outside, although she hadn't realised that it had been a week since she _had_ been out. The last thing she remembered was Kakashi holding her close to him, his warmth pulsing into her skin with the rhythm of his heart. He remembered it beating incredibly fast, though she wasn't in the position to give it a second thought.  
_'Maybe it was because I was having a breakdown' _she thought, walking towards a florist on the corner of a street _'It was probably because he was worried about me that it was that fast.'  
_Renita walked into the store, and a concoction of aromas from the various flowers washed over her. It was nice actually, the fragrances tingling her nose as she breathed in. She wandered about the store looking at the colourful formations the flowers were stacked as. Smiling to herself, she had a mere thought of how cute it would be to see Iruka or Kakashi buying flowers for someone. Coyly, the thought of them both buying flowers for _her_ made its way into her personal thoughts…  
She didn't notice a girl garbed in a red dress crouching down behind her looking at the clusters of daffodils and she stepped into her.  
'Ah!'  
The girl yelped out in fright, but Renita whirled about promptly and caught the girl across her midriff with her left arm, stopping her from falling onto the floor.  
'Better?' she asked the girl, helping her stand up on her feet.  
'Much' the girl replied, pushing a lock of her pink hair out of her face. She had green eyes that sparkled with youth, but looked as if they were hiding a powerful driving force behind those vibrant irises. Renita had a feeling that she had seen this ninja before, and then it hit her! It was Naruto's friend!  
'You're Sakura, aren't you?' she asked, bending over slightly to look at her eye to eye. This girl certainly had a chiselled beauty about her, her cheekbones and eyes being the highlights of her face. Perhaps Naruto worked so hard to impress her and help her because there were some small feelings for her. She couldn't blame him if there was though; she was quite easy on the eyes.  
'How did you know?' Sakura asked, a bit cautious towards Renita now.  
'I know your friend Naruto' Renita replied, smiling. Sakura seemed to relax at this, and rolled her eyes.  
'Oh right' she said 'I think everyone knows Naruto.'  
'He's not that bad'  
'Try being in a squad with him'  
'Touché' Renita laughed. 'Did you get your bracelet back safe?'  
'Yeah I did. Naruto brought it back with Kakashi-sensei. Who'd have thought it'd take two ninjas to bring back a piece of jewellery to someone.'  
'Well, Kakashi only went because Naruto had left it at the Ramen shop. I take the blame for that. I treated him to lunch, and I found out just how excited he gets over ramen' (Renita raised her right eyebrow at this comment)  
'Naruto is _hopeless_ when it comes to ramen'  
'Ahh, he's a good kid.'  
'He is in a way. By the way, what is your name, miss? I've never seen you before.'  
'Oh right. My name is Renita Takahashi. Putting it bluntly, I'm new here'  
'That's probably why I haven't seen you. Why do you wear your forehead protector like Kakashi-sensei does?'  
Renita sighed lightly and stood up straight again, placing her hands on her hips.  
'It's a long story. (Sakura seemed to be slightly crestfallen at this remark) Are you buying flowers for someone special?'  
Sakura's cheeks turned a light shade of pink.  
'Well' she stammered slightly 'they're for my friend Lee (The name hit Renita like a kunai striking into her heart) who's in hospital. I heard that he was in a critical condition and I want to see if he's ok'  
'Daffodils, huh? Why that particular flower?'  
'They're a noble flower that endures the harsh months of winter, and still stays beautiful. Lee is a determined ninja, so it's a lot like him.' Sakura picked out a single daffodil from the bouquet, its petals a beautiful golden yellow and the centre a brilliant orange. Sakura surely had an eye for detail, it seemed.  
'That's quite a beautiful sentiment' Renita said, looking at the lone flower that Sakura was holding 'Though…I would pick…(she walked over to the other side of the store and picked out a beautiful blue flower) this one'  
'Huh? An orchid? Why?'  
'Well' Renita began, rotating the flower slowly in her hand 'With an orchid, you can see it from miles away. It stands out, among all of the others. It's unique, willing, and there's this magical feel about it. Does that fit his personality at all?'  
Sakura just blinked at Renita with awe. Somehow, this ninja who'd she'd never seen before managed to pin Lee's personality to a T, and she did it with a _flower?_ Sakura wondered just how many things she could learn from this shinobi. Maybe she was an expert in gathering information!  
'Are you ok?' Renita asked, waving at Sakura, who at once snapped out of her reverie.  
'Oh, sorry' Sakura said, shaking her head quickly. Suddenly her flower didn't seem so special anymore.  
'Here' Renita said, holding out her hand for Sakura's daffodil. 'I'll buy that for you'  
'Oh no, it's ok'  
'Please, it'll be my treat. After all, I did step on you'  
'O-o-ok then'  
Renita purchased the flowers and the two girls headed towards the village. Sakura kept glancing at the graceful kunoichi walking next to her, for the fact that she didn't seem to make a sound.  
_'I wonder why I've never seen her before' _she thought hard _'And I wonder what she's hiding under her forehead protector…'  
'Chaa, she's probably another Kakashi-sensei wannabe' _Inner Sakura grumbled _'She's probably done it to get his attention'  
_The hospital doors loomed right infront of them, with the memory of Renita rushing in through the double doors cradling an unknown boy in her arms flooded back to her. Light blared into her eyes as they walked into the sterile, blinding white insides of the building. It was quiet, and pain began to throb in Renita's head, guilt building in her stomach. Sakura asked the intern for the room number, where they were then led down the corridors, two sets of footsteps echoing around in the air while Renita's remained silent, almost as if she was a phantom. The intern knocked on the door, calling out that there were visitors for Lee, if anyone was in there. Another voice, male, called out the invitation to enter, so Sakura and Renita were ushered inside the room.

Another shinobi, dressed in the chuunin/jōnin vest was standing stock still next to the bed, back facing the door. What hit Renita the most was that he wore the same ensemble that the genin Lee had worn. This meant that the two of them had a connection of some sort…  
Gai turned around to see who it was that had disrupted his mediation about his student. Lee was so dear to him, and seeing the poor ninja was terrible to deal with. Frankly, Gai thought of him as his son, and no amount of pure talent in ninjutsu or genjutsu would change that. When his eyes fell upon the young Sakura and her associate, his face went white as a sheet. He had no control over his next actions, and really, he didn't care at this point in time.  
Gai sensei lunged at Renita and she narrowly dodged his incoming attack.  
'You stay away from my Lee!' he cried at her, whipping around to lunge at her again, but she was prepared. Sakura had backed up against the wall, afraid of what was going on and holding her hands together at her chest, clutching the flowers too. She watched Renita keep her calm as she dodged every one of Gai's attacks with her hands by her sides. Renita didn't want to fight him, but she had to make him stop so she could explain, and the best way to do this was to be firm with this shinobi. Her lips curled back into snarl and a low growl emitted from her, stopping Gai momentarily. She took this lapse in action as her opportunity, and grabbed Gai's fist that he had raised with her right hand.  
'You listen to me, and you listen good' she threatened, her eye in a piercing and steely resolve. 'If you don't stop attacking, I will have no choice but to fight back. I am not here to do that. I am here to see the boy that I had injured, but I _swear_ to you, that if you do not stop, I _will_ have no choice to retaliate, and I will do the same to you that I did to him, only yours will be a hundred times worse!'  
Gai swallowed, contemplating this predicament, but kept his arm strong against the force that Renita was giving back.  
'Got it?' Renita snarled vehemently, dropping her voice lower which chilled Gai's insides subtly. It was then that he decided to relinquish his defence, and crossed his arms. Sakura watched the two ninja with wide, fearful eyes. She was completely lost as to what was happening. All she knew was that her and Renita had come to see Lee, who was lying in a perfect vertical line, eyes closed in the hospital bed, the blanket pulled up to his collar bone. Although she didn't know much about his sensei, she knew enough to know that when Gai was passionate about something, he could become dangerous in the blink of an eye. She could feel the tension between the two shinobi: so thick that it could be cut clean in twain with a kunai, or a precisely aimed shuriken.  
'Why have you come here?' Gai said, his brow furrowed in anger as he stared at the kunoichi. 'You've hurt Lee enough, and you have the audacity to come back'  
'Listen' Renita said, trying to calm herself down, though a hint of venom still present in her voice. 'I don't know who you are exactly, but you have to know that I wasn't the one that started all of this!'  
'You really think that I'll believe that my Lee start-'  
'Yes! _Your_ Lee started everything! I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and _he_ was the one that attacked me first!'  
'Lee…_attacked_ you?' Gai's mouth dropped open in shock. Renita sighed in relief: she seemed to be getting things straight with him now.  
'Yes, Lee attacked me first, and the situation he is in now gives me no pleasure. I came to bring him my deepest apologies.'  
'But..but Lee…he…'  
Gai seemed to be lost for words. He knew himself that Lee wouldn't attack someone just willingly, but looking into this ninja's eye, he felt that he had to believe her. There was something in the way that her eye pierced into him with a resolve of honesty that made him relax slightly.  
'You're his sensei I assume?' Renita asked and Gai nodded, still contemplating this news 'Your name?'  
Raising his chin in a defiant manner, Gai seemed to have finally believed her and spoke proudly.  
"I am Gai, sensei of young Lee here. I took him on as my student because I saw potential in him that I had never seen in any other ninja in the village. Poor Lee can use neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu, and fights only with his taijutsu, where one day he hopes to become a splendid ninja.'  
It was all too clear to Renita just strong a fighter Lee was and her body ached all over because of it. Gai had done his job on training him, and there was no doubt in her mind that he would become the ninja that he dreamed of being. After all, she had to resort to using _that_ technique just to stop him…  
'He will be the ninja he dreams of' Renita said quietly, looking over at the boy bundled up in the sheets. 'He was a forceful opponent, agile and determined.'  
Gai relaxed entirely at this. From what Lee had told him in between his agony, this shinobi was one to be feared when she was riled up, and what lay behind her forehead protector was another mystery in itself.  
'_Just like my Eternal-Rival Kakashi'_ Gai thought to himself.  
A cough came from the bed, and all heads flicked to the same direction immediately. Lee had woken up and was opening his eyes slowly. Sakura walked to him and pushed the strands of hair that had fallen over his eyes out of the way. The first thing Lee saw was Sakura, and he immediately felt his feelings for her wash over him, sending a warm, fuzzy feeling coursing through him. Indeed, it was a wonderful thing to wake up to, seeing the one that you adore and, quite possibly, love. The tension in the room dissipated immediately, and Sakura was thankful for it, but her opinion of Renita had changed after learning that she was the one that had put Lee in this position to begin with. How could she trust her now?  
'Oh Lee' Gai said, walking back over to the bed and sitting down on the chair next to it. 'How are you Lee?'  
'Gai-sensei' Lee began, his voice hoarse, but still retaining its squeak. 'I feel as if a thousand needles are sticking into me (Renita dropped her look to the floor and Sakura let out a little gasp) but I see it as training. If I cannot forget about the pain, I can never become a splendid ninja'  
Gai threw himself onto Lee, tears streaming down his face. Sakura and Renita just stared at the grown man weeping helplessly over the poor boy. Lee would have cried with him, but he was far too exhausted to muster up the ability to do so.  
'Even in the state you're in, you never give up on training' Gai said, choking slightly through the lump that had developed in his throat. It was this determination, this driving force so deep within Rock Lee that made Gai so proud, and the very reason why Gai was so willing to protect him from anything that would interfere with his dreams and his ambitions in life.  
'Gai-sensei' Lee croaked 'You're crushing me…'  
With this, Gai immediately pulled himself up and composed himself. It was amazing how fast he did, and he could almost pull off a façade of being perfectly fine if it wasn't for his eyelids being red-rimmed from the salt in his tears.  
"Lee, you're not just going to ignore these two young ladies now are you?' Gai joked, dragging the chair sideways so Sakura and Renita could get closer. Sakura kept her distance from Renita by moving towards Gai more: she wasn't so sure about her now.  
'Hi Lee' she said, her voice a beautiful melody to his ears 'It's good to see you awake now. I brought you a daffodil' She gently dropped the flowers into the vase, the stems making a soft '_plink_' noise when they tapped the glass.  
'There's two there, Sakura' Lee said, admiring the flowers. 'Who is the other one from?'  
'Oh, that's…that's from…' Sakura glanced at Renita uneasily, but pulled it off as if she had temporarily forgotten her name.  
'That would be from me' Renita said, leaning in closer so Lee could look at her properly. When he did look at her though, his eyes grew fearful. He knew exactly who this shinobi was, but he was defenceless in this state. He grew worried for his own well-being now.  
'Can I a have a moment alone with Lee?' she asked, still looking at the genin, but asking to the two around her. Reluctantly, Gai nodded and motioned for Sakura to follow him and they left, closing the door behind them. Lee really began to panic at this point: he had no idea what was going on, or what was going to happen to him.  
'Can you sit up?'  
'I-I can try…'  
Lee struggled to move his limbs without pain, but was unsuccessful, although he managed to lean onto one elbow. It was just enough height for Renita to be able to hook her hands under his arms and lift him into a sitting position. She did it gently, treating Lee as if he was a porcelain doll, and for that he was grateful.  
'Before you say anything' Renita began, taking the chair that Gai had left empty and slid it over to the head of the bed 'I want to apologise for the state I have left you in. I am guilty for it, and if there is anything I can do to make it up to you, call upon me. Right now, I am indebted to you and I will not forgive myself until you have done so for me.'  
Lee stared at her, and his worry drained from him. Normally, a ninja would not ever apologise for beating an opponent, but this one? She was different, and he was intrigued by her.  
'I need to ask you something Lee.'  
'What is it?'  
'Why did you attack me the way you did?'  
Lee looked sheepish. In truth, he had been expecting someone else, a jōnin in the village to test his skills on. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen this particular shinobi for about a week, and when the angled forehead protector had become visible to Lee in his private dojo he had built, he jumped at the chance for the element of surprise. How wrong he had been.  
'In honesty, uhh.. uhh…'  
'Renita'  
'Oh, right. In honesty, I thought that you were someone else…' It sounded weak, but it was the truth. He wanted it to sound better, but really, where was the point in trying to make things sound like something it wasn't? He looked down at his hands, clearly embarrassed.  
Renita wasn't angry at him. She could see that she had put him in an embarrassing situation and she felt sorry for him. If this was the result of an accident, then how powerful would he be against a proper opponent?  
'It's ok' she said simply. Lee looked up at her and she was smiling at him. It wasn't a particular type of smile, just a friendly one. Behind the sapphire eye, he could see Renita wallowing in a sea of guilt, and he had to believe her when she said she was sorry.  
'Renita-sensei?' he questioned, bringing her back to reality 'Are you ok?'  
'Lee, I will be fine. What about you? Are your lungs ok?'  
'They could be better, admittedly. U Umm….what did you do to me, and how is it that you did it without laying a hand on me? Was it genjutsu or ninjutsu or…?.'  
It struck a chord with Renita's insides. Having to explain what she did to the boy would be hard, but he deserved to know the truth.  
'It's my kekkei genkai Lee' she started 'but what I did to you was unforgivable. (she inhaled deeply and sighed) I am a former sound ninja, which explains what I do with the grooves in my arm (she indicated to the wrappings on her left arm with her right index finger) but it's my eye that does the most damage'  
She lifted her forehead protector to reveal the purple eye in all of its splendour. Lee gazed at it, caught in its hypnotic colours and pattern which swirled about in the iris.  
'You see, it catches the opponent unawares and paralyses their movements. Then by emitting different pitches of sound, different noises, I can change the way I attack the opponent from the inside out… It's a powerful thing to deal with, and sometimes, I don't even know how to control it…It's a cursed gift.'  
Tears seemed to well up in her eye and Lee was stunned at it. He had no idea that this was such a burden to her, and he knew exactly why she hid it from everyone until it was absolutely necessary. He had to admit, this was quite flattering to him in a sick sense. If she had to use this kekkei genkai to stop him, perhaps he was on the road to becoming the ninja he desired…  
'What I did to you…I paralysed your muscles and cut off the oxygen supply in your body. This caused your lungs to collapse…' She had to stop. It was painful to continue, and Lee's wide, innocent eyes made it harder. He didn't press her on the matter, just nodded his head.  
Renita placed her right hand on his head and ruffled Lee's hair, which was surprisingly sleek and full of volume. He smiled at this contact, because it was something he never really had in his life.  
'Lee' Renita said, pausing with her hand in his hair 'you will be the splendid ninja you desire.'  
And with that, she picked herself up and patted his head, his black hair falling back to its original position automatically. She bowed low to Lee as an enormous sign of respect to him and crossed the floor and out the door. It puzzled Lee how she walked: something seemed unnatural to him, but she was kind, nonetheless.  
'I forgive you, Renita-sensei'.**  
**Sakura and Gai were waiting silently outside of the room, and both of their faces lit up when they saw Renita's figure emerge. She just looked at them and smiled without a word, and began to leave the hospital. Glancing at one another quickly, Gai and Sakura rushed into the room to see a calm and happy Lee, wincing every now and then with pain in his chest. Sakura moved back to peek her head round the door, but Renita was gone, as if she had vanished into thin air. She shook her head and let the door click shut behind her.

The throbbing in Renita's head lessened somewhat now that she was out of the hospital and in the fresh air. Even though she had been 'asleep' for a week, she felt drained, and the sun was beginning to set. She thought it best if she went home, and maybe properly slept in her own bed, so she headed towards her ramshackle house. It wasn't much, but it was home to her, and she was beginning to grow fond of it. The air was beginning to bite at her skin, and it was fast becoming chilly. She picked up the pace of her walk to get home as fast as she could. Visiting hospitals were tiresome to her, and she hated feeling guilty all the time, but after seeing the boy in the hospital, a huge weight had lifted from her, making her feel freer and lighter. Only a few moments passed and she was on the path up to her house, tapping her shoes against the one stair infront of the doorway to rid any debris on the soles before taking them off and entering her home.  
The first thing she noticed were the footprints: they were different, moulded into one another as if something was dragged over them to connect them. Renita grew cautious, on alert for any intruders. Her first instinct was to arm herself, so she grabbed a kunai from her kunai pouch and held it close. She followed her familiar route on the floor, all the way to her bedroom. Immediately, she dropped the kunai thudding on the wood with a dull sound. Fixated on the figure on her bed, she shifted the napkin lily and lay down side-by-side with Kakashi, looking at him and noticing the way his eye was darting around quickly as he slept. He was breathing softly, almost purring through his exhales. He was beautiful when he was asleep, and Renita stared at him until she had drifted off into pitch black and finally rested, lying alongside the mysterious Kakashi Hatake.

* * *

**The story is just starting to heat up at this point!  
Keep in touch if you want to see more of the Kaka-Ren pairing or the Iru-Ren pairing!  
If you have any tips, I'd be more than glad to hear them, along with any suggestions you guys want to give me.  
There's going to be plenty more chapters, and maybe a few new ones.  
Who knows? I certainly do ;D  
If you want to find out what happens next, stay in for the ride!  
xxx**

***Liked it? Tell me what you think. What can I improve, change, what would you like to see? Didn't like it? That's ok. Tell me what you didn't like. I'm not shy for reviews***


	8. Making The First Move

**Ok, so, here's chapter seven! Yay! I'd have to say I'm really pleased with how this is coming along.  
Now, I'll try to upload chapter 8 next Monday, but I can't promise anything. If the week comes around and I still haven't put it up, I'll put up a preview of what's to come in it.  
It's just that I'm a little swamped with my schoolwork at the moment, and I'm typing at every opportunity I get.  
So, thanks for reading this far!**

* * *

Soft chirping of birds floated in through the window and a pool of light warmed Renita's skin. It was a comfortable feeling, one of the mornings where someone could just stay in bed without a care in the world. This was exactly how Renita felt and she struggled to open her eyes, but she forced the muscles in her eyelids to lift. A smile lit her face as the body of Kakashi was still there, only during the night he had reached out and put his left hand on her waist, just above her pelvis. Heat emitted from his palm so she had one spot on her body warmer than the rest of her, though it was nice in her opinion. Kakashi looked so peaceful at this moment, still purring as he had done so last night. His hair had fallen over his forehead protector and covered the top of his face, his eye still closed through a curtain of white hairs. She wondered to herself how he breathed so easily under the mask, because it looked as if it constricted his skin. She pondered why he wore that mask, and was tempted to peel the material back and look at it, but stopped herself for fear of making him angry. He held so many mysterious about him, and it hadn't been long since they had met but her feelings towards him were honest and true. She could trust him whole-heartedly.  
Renita extended her right hand and pushed the hairs that had gracefully arced over his face, caressing his face afterwards. Kakashi stirred, making half-hearted grumbles but rubbing his cheek into her palms.  
'_Hibiscus' _he said, barely audible in his sleepy state.  
'Hmm?'  
_'You smell of hibiscus'  
_'This would have to be the strangest wake up I've ever had'  
Kakashi made a snuffling noise, opening his eye lazily, blinking as if he was trying to clear a fog in his head. He had finally come out of his grogginess and snapped his vision into focus when he saw who it was that he had pressed his face into during his sleep. He couldn't recall how many times that Renita had made him blush, but he could chalk up another tally on the board because he had now flushed a pink. He hadn't meant to say that out loud, but now there was no way he could cover it up. No, he had accidentally said one of his guilty pleasures to her face.  
To her face!  
'Are you awake yet?'  
'I have to be now. I wouldn't call this one of the smoothest wake-ups in my history'  
Renita chuckled, her voice light and airy and it sent ripples of tickles down Kakashi's spine.  
'What time is it?' he asked.  
'It's ten-thirty in the morning' she said, flicking Kakashi playfully on the nose 'Which means breakfast.'  
Kakashi yawned and rolled onto his back, stretching himself out and feeling pops in the vertebrae of his spine. He had managed to have an amazing sleep, but whether or not that was due to the fact he had slept in someone else's bed: a _certain_ someone else whom he had also dreamed about that night. Maybe it was the scent of her that surrounded him which was the reason why. Next to him, Renita had stood up to stretch, also popping her spine in a satisfactory way and shaking her limbs to get the blood rushing through her body.  
'Breakfast will be ready in twenty minutes' she said, looking at Kakashi over her shoulder with a sly smile 'Since you stayed the night, I expect you at the table promptly in fifteen. After all, you're a guest in my, well, 'house' so I do have _some_ guidelines' she winked and began to leave the room, treading in the same footsteps as always and running her fingers through her hair.  
'Stay with me…' Kakashi said, his voice barely a whisper, but his message fell on deaf ears, since she had already left the room.

*******_  
_Panting heavily, Iruka had safely made it back to his house, drenched in sweat from his usual morning run. He clambered in through the front door, and dropped his kunai pouch on one end of the couch, and pulling his vest off smoothly, tossed it onto the rim of the same couch, just at the other end. He had made his run in record time, having to wait a full half an hour for the sun to rise this time. It was due to the fact that he had this excitement buzzing through his abdomen since Renita had promised to visit the academy yesterday. He had replayed her voice saying that over and over again since the moment she had said it, and he couldn't wait to see her beautiful smile once again face to face.  
He stripped off bare and stepped into his shower, cranking up the hot water and rotating his hand under the stream until he was satisfied. He let the water heat up so much that it was almost blistering his skin. Truth be told, he liked it this way, but he couldn't have it every time because of the damage it would do. He had left it running so hot because it stopped him from thinking for a short period of time, and he desperately needed to stop just long enough so he could collect himself before teaching his class. The water attacked his flesh, biting into it and making it sensitive, though it served its purpose. He had stopped thinking about Renita and took deep sighs to clear his head further, enjoying the sensation of the droplets pounding against his epidermis. His muscles relaxed and he stood there with his head facing the shower head, letting steam flow around him and clearing the sweat and grime from his pores. Squeezing a dollop of shampoo into his hands and massaging the liquid into his hair, he began to plan the days lessons for the children:  
Surprise test on the ways of the ninja.  
Kunai practice- outside or inside?  
Chakra patterns in the body.  
Lunch break.  
Studies of ninjutsu and genjutsu.  
He seemed to think that this was a decent lesson plan, and he felt satisfied with the diversity of the subjects today. Normally he wouldn't stray over many different topics, but selfishly he felt like boasting about his knowledge to Renita when she came to visit…whenever that would be.  
_"Damn it, I'm thinking about her again!'_ Iruka thought, bubbles lathering up in his hair and being washed away from the pressure of the water. The bubbles travelled down his body, across the 'v' of his pelvis and down his legs, where they melded together into a stream of white falling down the plug-hole. He felt like a little boy again, as he stopped washing his hair to poke at fly-away bubbles with his index finger. How he missed those time, being in a world created from his own innocence, before his parents had been brutally torn away from him at such a young age.  
He missed his mother incredibly, but it was many years ago, and they had died for a noble cause. He proudly spoke of his parents as they fought to keep the Kyuubi demon from destroying Konoha, the nine-tailed fox demon now locked away in the body of Naruto, whom he know felt as a father to.  
The thing that attracted Iruka to Renita so much was the way she smelled; it was a mixture of something sweet, but also something tangy, the smell nipping at the tip of the tongue if inhaled deeply. It was infatuating to Iruka, but it also reminded him of the way his mother used to smell, his memory retaining the fragrance for all these years. He believed the saying that girls dated boys who reminded them of their fathers, so why not the latter for men as well?  
After the water had almost incinerated Iruka long enough, he decided that he was clean enough and twirled the shower taps off. The drips made a 'plink' as they dripped on the tiles as he shook his head to get some of the excess water out of his hair before reaching for his towel. Normally he would just towel himself off and wrap his hair up in his trademark pony tail, but today he decided to spruce himself up a bit. He wrapped his towel around his waist and stood infront of the floor-length mirror in his bathroom, hands on hips inspecting himself. Well, there wasn't much that he could do to change his appearance body-wise, since he had to be dressed in a particular way for teaching at the academy, so he focused on his face. He didn't like his scar at all, although it was the defining feature of his personality. He ran his finger along the deep ridge that dug into his skin and his eyes lost some of their sparkle. He really did hate it, but what could he do to change it? He noticed he had a brush of stubble on his face, and decided to be away with it. Usually he would just use a standard cut-throat razor and cream, but he wanted to look as handsome as possible so he chose instead to shave with a kunai knife. This practice was a risky one, where the smallest twitch of a finger could gash the skin, leaving a cut on the face for weeks at a time. While this was risky, it also gave a superior shave, closer than any other razor could give, and left the skin smooth for at least a month. Iruka prepared a sink of hot water and splashed it onto his face and patted it dry with a face-washer. Carefully, he selected the sharpest of his kunai from a drawer where he kept spare equipment and items for his kit. He brought up to eye-level and inspected the blade, checking for ridges and blemishes in the metal. It looked sharper than ever which pleased Iruka and he began to stroke the delicate hairs on his skin with the cold steel. It swiped at the hairs on his face, striking them off from his skin, leaving his skin smoother than any velvet imaginable. He was pleased with the result, and kept going with his 'beauty regime', scraping his features to remove any chance of stubble on his face. He was almost done when he glanced at the clock, and gasped in surprise at the time. This gasp caused him to nick his chin and a deep crimson dripped down his face, and immediately stung making Iruka wince.  
'Damn it!' he yelped, trying to stem the flow with his left hand and throwing the kunai into the wall, where it stayed in a perfect horizontal position. 'Gah! Lord! Jeez! DAMN FLIPPING HOKAGE!'  
Boy, did that cut _sting_! He pressed his palm onto the nick in his chin; waiting for the blood to stop that seemed to be gushing out to no end. He doubled over the sink and reached a hand up to the cupboard above. His hand scrabbled around the shelves until he felt his leather shaving kit and flicked it down where he caught it expertly. He flipped open the top and pulled out a small bottle of aftershave. He was going to regret this immensely, but he had to finish the job since he had started it already. Bracing himself for the worst, he tipped a small amount of the clear liquid into his palms, rubbed them together and tapped his face with the musky cologne.  
'GAHHHHHH!'  
'NNGGRRRRR'  
'AHHHHHHHH'  
'HARRRRRGGGHHH'  
'MOTHER OF-'  
Iruka curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor, the white tiles cooling his body immensely since his shower before. He knew that this was going to be painful, but once the aftershave had seeped into his cut, it was excruciating. He continued to make groaning noises as if it was going to help alleviate the pain, but it didn't. After two minutes, it had subdued and he picked himself up off the floor, glancing at himself in his mirror.  
'Oh great, that was a smart move.'  
Iruka now had a violent red slash on the right side of his chin, blood slowly weeping out from the incision in small droplets. After all the precautions he had taken to avoid cutting himself, it proved fruitless. Although he had left his skin smooth and stubble-free, he now had a blemish, one that he was both embarrassed and annoyed by. But now the damage was done, and he had to live with it for at least four weeks, watching it transform from a slice into a raw pink seal in his skin. He sighed, and packed up the mess that he had created during his spasms of pain. He felt a draught around his pelvis, and realised his towel had dropped, cool air floating around making him shiver. He picked up the towel, wrapping it loosely around his hips again and walking through to his bedroom, scrounging for a set of clean clothes to dress in. Rummaging through his drawers, he found a spare set of shinobi attire, and thought to himself that he really needed to do his washing before he ran out of decent clothes to wear, as he looked at other moth-eaten shirts and underwear.  
Pulling the shirt over his head and the pants over his legs, he dressed himself briskly and flew out of the door. When he had looked at the clock before, he didn't realise that there was ten minutes before class started and he hadn't even left yet. Swiftly grabbing his vest, he scampered out the door and began a full-pelt run to the academy, hoping he would make it in time before the children started to run amok.

***  
Kakashi was too warm to leave the bed, but he had managed to procrastinate a further thirteen minutes. He wanted to stay there for another week, but he also had to make it to the kitchen table in two minutes. He also had no idea where the kitchen was, but instead counted to twenty slowly, trying to wake up just a little bit more. Curling his fingers behind his head, he pulled himself into a sitting position by a sit-up manoeuvre, feeling his stomach muscles tense in protest after being so relaxed for a number of hours. Scratching his stomach underneath his clothes and yawning wide, he decided to get up, dragging himself and the quilt with him, wrapping it around him over his shoulders like an oversized cloak. His feet made the same '_pad_' sound on the floor boards, the edge of the quilt sweeping the floor as he stepped, following a fresh set of prints leading to another room in the run-down building. They turned away from the others, leaving a trail which travelled further towards the end of the establishment. It grew chillier the further he travelled down, the floor becoming a slab of concrete rather than the comfortable wood. Stepping onto a dark grey area of concrete, he was now in the kitchen which was made up entirely of spare pieces of whitegoods and panelling thrown haphazardly together to make a sustainable cooking area. Although it looked messy, it was immaculately clean, so eating wouldn't be a problem when it came to dirt or dust. While Renita was busy fussing over a skillet on the off-white oven/stove-top combination, Kakashi snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her midriff. He didn't think so much about this, but acted purely on instinct with this action. This embrace temporarily stopped what Renita was doing and she froze; both with surprise and a feeling of enjoyment. It filled her with excitement and she wished it would stay forever, though this was stopped due to a small wisp of smoke rising from the food. She broke out of the comforting warmth of the protective cloak and strong arms of the shinobi. Unknowingly, Kakashi pouted and wished she'd come back to him, just for a little bit longer. He would have kept his arms outstretched to her, but she was far too busy focused on preventing the food from burning. Albeit brief, this would be the highlight of his day, this small embrace to her. Kakashi wrapped the quilt around him tighter and settling down into a single pine chair that had been stripped of any original paint and for a later purpose. His head moved with his eyes as he looked around the small room that Renita called home. In his opinion, it wasn't too bad; fix up the walls, a bit of paint and some matching furniture and it would be quite a handsome place to be. The best thing definitely about the house was the view: normally someone would have to pay a Hokage's ransom to get a house like this, but Renita dodged a bullet by taking residence of one that had been abandoned such a long time ago. He placed his feet up on the edge of the table and rocked back on the chair, but in a split second tumbled into a backwards somersault, only to succeed in getting his legs wrapped up in the quilt and rolling across the floor in a cocoon. This only happened because a ladle had been thrown passed his face with pinpoint precision and ended up clanging against the wall, with a giggling Renita at the stovetop.  
'Feet off the table Kakashi' she said.  
'…msnngghblllmm…' was all he managed to mumble, wriggling to try and get himself out of this mess. Renita giggled again and sauntered to the lump of the ninja on her floor to help him out of the fabric. Tweaking only a corner, she pulled it swiftly and out Kakashi rolled, landing on his hands and knees to pick himself up off the floor. Kakashi dusted off his pants with a meek expression and picked the chair up to sit in, folding his hands in his lap and staring at Renita. She laughed harder and patted him on the head looking into his eye as she did so. Kakashi had managed to put on this expression as if he was a little boy trying to do good deeds for his mother to get a reward.  
'Hope you don't mind' she said, ruffling his hair 'but it's potato and leek soup for breakfast. I'm running low on supplies'  
'I haven't had that in the longest time' Kakashi replied 'So it's fine by me.'  
'Well, it'd be a gourmet breakfast if I had _known_ you were staying the night'  
'Yeah well… I have no answer to that… You kept my lily…'  
'Of course' Renita served two bowls of steaming soup to the table with two spoons 'I think it's beautiful.'  
'It's only a napkin….' Kakashi trailed off, staring into his soup to avoid continuing the sentence.  
'Well it's not every day someone folds the translation of your name from a napkin though, is it?'  
'I guess not' Kakashi replied, still staring into the liquid.  
'Oh lord, is that the time?'  
'Hmm?'  
'I've got to get going or Iruka's going to be mad'  
_Iruka.  
_The name hit Kakashi like a ton of bricks.  
Drinking her soup at an incredible pace, Renita swallowed the last bit and ran to her bedroom in a flash, leaving Kakashi all alone to take advantage of her absence to eat quickly, pulling his mask down smoothly with much practice. He was replacing his mask to its original position and standing up to collect the dishes when Renita came back in, her hair freshly brushed and a tropical essence surrounding her.  
'I've got to go darling' she said, swooping in to collect the empty bowls and placing them into the sink where they clattered rather noisily. 'I'd say lock up when you leave if the front door _had _a lock, so, pull it shut please?'  
'Ok' Kakashi said quietly, feeling Renita's arms wrap around his middle quickly, pinning his arms to his sides temporarily.  
'Ahh thanks, you're wonderful' Renita said, running madly around the place, oddly not making any noises with her feet. She was just exiting when Kakashi took a mad plunge, his heart racing again as he out to her, the words tumbling over and out his mouth:  
'Havedinnerwithmesaturday?'  
'Sure thing!' was her reply, her words floating back to from the front door, leaving Kakashi alone once again. Little did she know that she had made his cheeks flush again, but this time, it was with happiness.  
*******

Renita was running full pelt, the world around her becoming a blur until Kakashi's words rail-roaded their way to her consciousness. This made her stop dead in her tracks as she realised what he had said.  
He had just asked her on a date.  
*******

Iruka had just made it into the academy before the bell, sprinting to the garden outside the building. Rather than having to slow down inside and climbing a set of stairs, he sprinted towards the large tree which conveniently had a large branch reaching out towards the classroom window on the second story, and focused his chakra to his feet. Keeping his momentum, he ran up the trunk, the chakra in the soles of his feet gluing him to the wood. In three strides he had jumped up on the branch and grabbed the edge of the window, pulling it towards him so it opened out and he could slide through in a fluid motion. Once inside the classroom, he shut the window and sat down at his desk, facing the many tiered benches where the students sat for lessons at the very time the bell rang, footsteps of children thundering on the wooden floors to begin the day.  
Iruka tried to steady his breathing as the children pushed their way into the class to take their seats. A few of them chanted 'Good morning Iruka-sensei' on their way past and he smiled a broad smile to them. When the last child had been seated, Iruka stood up, and addressed the class:  
'Good morning students' he said brightly 'I have a very special treat for you today.' The children began to whisper between each other at this remark.  
'Now now, settle down children' he continued, waving down the banter with his hands 'Today we're going to have a special visitor come in and talk to us today.'  
Majority of the children groaned at this.  
'It's not going to be Gai-sensei again is it?' a little boy piped up, making the others children groan more heavily.  
'No no' Iruka said, making a face at the memory of Gai's speech to the children. _That_ had been…interesting.  
'Our guest today is a young kunoichi.'  
This made the class break out in excited whispers, especially among the girls.  
'A kunoichi really?' said a fiery red-headed girl with her hair tied up in two large pig-tails, excitement filling her little face as she held her hands in fists and brought them to her chin.  
'Yes Moegi, this time it is. She's new here to the village and she offered to talk to us today. She'll be here sometime soon so for now, it's time for a quiz!'  
The children groaned a bit but they were more excited about this mysterious guest speaker. Iruka chuckled to himself and leaned back against the desk, thinking of questions to fire at the children.  
'Ok, first question' he started 'What is the fourth shinobi rule?'  
A few hands shot up into the air, so Iruka picked one at random.  
'A shinobi must always put the mission first!'  
'Correct. Ok, who can tell me another?'  
More hands shot into the air.  
'A shinobi must see the hidden meaning within the hidden meaning!'  
'Again, correct. Keep it up everyone. Anoth-'  
A soft knock at the door interrupted his speech, and all heads flicked towards it.  
'Konohamaru' Iruka said 'Can you get the door?'  
A young boy with short spiky hair, a yellow t-shirt, grey pants and a long blue scarf stood up and opened the door. Iruka didn't need to look at who it was before he knew who was standing in the doorway, because that all-too-familiar tropical scent filled his nose and he started to melt inside. Renita was standing in the doorway with her hands neatly together infront of her and the girls in the classroom let out gasps of awe. Renita smiled sweetly at Konohamaru.  
'Why thankyou' she said 'What a perfect little gentleman.'  
Konohamaru smiled a bit and took his seat. Sure, he thought she was pretty but just like everyone else, the first thing he noticed was the forehead protector. Konohamaru went back to his seat as Renita walked towards Iruka, who was smiling from ear to ear.  
'Class' he started 'This is our special guest. This is Renita Takahashi.'  
The little girls all said good morning cheerily to her, while the boys chanted their standard good-mornings.  
'Hi everyone' Renita said. She was nervous inside, but she didn't want to let the children know that.  
'We were just going through some rules of the shinobi' Iruka said 'Ok class, what's another rule?'  
'A shinobi must never question their commander.'  
'Excellent. Hmm...Konohamaru, can you give me another one?'  
'A shinobi must prepare before it is too late to.'  
'Fantastic class...ok, last one. What is the twenty-fifth rule of the shinobi?'  
The class was in silence. A few mumbled to themselves but no one had an answer to give to their sensei.  
'No one?' Iruka questioned, giving a bit more time to the children in case someone decided to have a go.  
Silence.  
It was Moegi who spoke up.  
'Does Renita know it?' she asked, curiosity written on her face.  
'The twenty-fifth rule of the shinobi' Renita began, glancing at Iruka with another sly smile which made him turn a slight shade of pink. 'A shinobi must never show emotion' she winked.  
_'Oh boy' _Iruka thought '_I fail at that one BIG time.'  
_The children seemed confused. How could someone not show emotion? Renita noticed the confused expressions on the children.  
'Basically' she began 'This rule implies that the act of _subduing _a shinobi's emotions is in place. Really, no one can ever cease to have emotion, but it just means that you…_mask_ them in the face of battle.'  
'Good explanation Renita' Iruka smiled, seeing the understanding dawn across the children's faces.  
'Ok class, time for some kunai practice.'  
Delight erupted from the children as they stood up eagerly from their seats. Iruka started to collect the well worn and dented training post from the cupboard when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
'Leave that in here. I have an idea' Renita said, smiling her trademark grin at him, which he adored so much.

Iruka was lined up along with the class, a slight wind blowing through the many hairs and layers of clothes.  
'Are you sure about this Renita?' Iruka shouted, his voice wavering slightly with concern.  
'Perfectly!' she yelled back, ten metres away.  
'Ok class, get ready. We'll have three students aiming at... (he swallowed deeply) at Renita...'  
'Iruka-sensei, are you sure about this?' Moegi asked frightened.  
'Sh-she knows what she's doing' Iruka replied, trying to convince her everything was perfectly fine, although inside he had butterflies fluttering around restlessly.  
'I'll go first!'  
Konohamaru was jumping up and down, waving his arm like a flag on a windy day,  
_'Of course'_ Iruka thought, looking at the eager boy _'When it's a chance to show off, you jump at it with full attention.'  
_'Ok, Konohamaru, you can go first. Pick another two to practice with you.'  
'Alright!' Konohamaru said, fist-pumping.  
He picked two other children from the class and the three of them stood a foot infront of the class, armed with a kunai and a shuriken.  
'Ready?" Iruka called over to Renita.  
'Just a second!'  
She brought her hands together and two shadow clones appeared either side of her. She murmured something to them and the two clones ran in opposite directions, roughly twenty metres away. She then began to unravel her bandages on her arm, tucking the wrappings into a pocket in her vest and settling into her familiar fighting stance, her left arm infront of her face with her legs in a half-lunge.  
'Lay it on me, kids!' she called back.  
Konohamaru grinned wickedly and shouted a cry, which made all three children throw the kunais at her at once; one landed a little way infront while the other two had surprising accuracy, aiming for Renita. She just smiled and built up her chakra, sending a little wave at the oncoming trajectories. One kunai each went in separate directions, to which the shadow clones then caught them in mid-air.  
All of the children plus Iruka just stood in awe, marvelling at the way the kunais had been deflected so easily. Even Konohamaru was impressed, but he wasn't about to give up. He was determined to hit his target, so he threw the shuriken at her too, but with the same result. It was simply blown away and caught by a shadow-clone.  
Iruka now knew what exactly the ridges in her arm were, and he couldn't believe it. A sound ninja? He had this sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, almost disgusted with the fact that he was attracted to someone that should be the enemy. And yet, there was something inside him that overruled this instinct and replaced it with a bubbly feeling, the butterflies now gone. He had no reason to worry about her anymore. Although she looked delicate, Renita was not someone to be messed with when the time was right. He started clapping, and the class joined in, his feelings for her now increased ten-fold. She was something special.  
'Is that all you kids have?' she called, her voice a playful tone.  
'We're just getting started!' Iruka replied, and for the next hour and a half, the children threw kunai after kunai and shuriken after shuriken at her, sending them flying in wayward directions, with the shadow clones running around madly catching them all.

'That was the most entertained I've ever seen them' Iruka said, helping to collect the ninja tools back into a wooden box, the shadow clones' arms laden with pointy objects.  
'I used to do that with my brother all time' Renita said, dumping the tools into the box. Who knew that children could make so much mess _outside_?  
'My dad used to watch us sparring together before…before.,,'  
'Before what?'  
'…it's nothing' she finished, her face now full of sadness.  
Now, the code of conduct is that teacher's must never hug anyone while in the middle of a lesson due to teacher-student confidentiality. Plus it would also contradict the lesson beforehand about a shinobi never showing emotion, but something inside Iruka decided that this was a different cause altogether.  
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace. He knew something was wrong, but being a somewhat shy individual, he never wanted to push on matters that were uncomfortable for the other person. So, he settled for an open hug, and Renita returned it back, feeling comfortable in the warmth of Iruka's arms.  
'It's alright' he said, finally pulling away after at least counting up to five 'one-Konohagakure's' in his head. 'So, that's what those ridges are, huh?'  
'Huh? Oh yeah. That's my little secret.'  
'Well, if that's the little secret, what's under the headband?'  
'…a bigger secret?'  
The two of them collapsed into giggles at this, and walked back over to the class. The girls were now marvelling at Renita, who was walking gracefully with them. They spouted out questions to her all at once, eager for answers.  
'How old are you?'  
'Can I do what you just did?'  
'Can I be just like you one day?'  
'Can I train with you sometime?'  
'You smell pretty' (this actually happened to come from a little boy)  
'Are you and Iruka-sensei together?'  
Renita just laughed her usual tinkly laugh.  
'Ok, so I'm nineteen. Probably not, it's a special thing I was born with. I suppose if you train hard enough you can be like me. I'll see if I can find some time and I can show you some cool jutsu. Thankyou, I'm glad someone thinks I smell pretty. No, Iruka-sensei and I are not together. We're just very close friends.'  
_'Which could change entirely'_ she thought to herself, thinking of Iruka being her boyfriend. An all-too-familiar sensation in her stomach came back, tickling her insides.  
'Come on girls' Iruka called back. 'Let's not bother her too much or she might not stay the whole day with us.'  
In a mixture of giggles and whispers, the young girls ran off back to the classroom.  
'Will you stay the whole day?' Iruka asked, falling back to walk with her.  
'Sure, I can stay' Renita smiled, watching Iruka's smile become wider.  
'Thanks so much for helping out today.'  
'Oh it's no problem. I'm kind of enjoying being back at school.'  
'Trust me, today they're on a good day. I think you've got a fan club. I won't be surprised if the girls start wearing headbands or things over their eyes now.'  
'Haha, oh really? This I need to see.'  
'I'll let you know if they do.'  
'Appreciated.'  
They walked in silence until they had reached the class room door. Renita went to open it but Iruka's hand grasped hers before her fingers could touch the doorknob.  
'Wait' he said, his tone suddenly serious now.  
'What's wrong?'  
'Umm…I just… I was wondering if…' Iruka stammered, unable to get the words he wanted out.  
'…do you want to go to dinner with me this Friday?'  
Renita was taken aback. Two dates in the space of one day?  
Two.  
By older men.  
OLDER MEN!  
'I'd love to' she said, smiling at him. 'But can I have my hand back now? You're crushing it.'  
'Oh, sorry' Iruka said, relaxing both his grip on her and his entire body.  
_'Pfft, wasn't so hard' _he thought to himself.  
'Thanks for that' Renita giggled 'Now we better get back inside before the class gets suspicious.'

* * *

**Well, there you have it. Chapter seven.  
As an anecdote, 'One Konohagakure' is the same as counting as 'One mississippi'...incase someone didn't get that...  
But you're all smart people so you would have. Derr, silly me :P**

Ok, so, like before, I will try my hardest to get chapter 8 up next week but I _can't_ promise anything.  
If you need a little bit of a break from waiting, check out my DeviantArt page. I usually put up concept art in there, and will be adding to it very shortly.  
The link to my page is in my profile.

**Catch ya later!**

*Liked it? Tell me what you think. What can I improve, change, what would you like to see? Didn't like it? That's ok. Tell me what you didn't like. I'm not shy for reviews*


	9. Showing Their Sensitive Sides

**Oh wow, it's been... far, _far_ too long since I updated this story.  
I apologise to _all_ of my followers and readers of this story for the massive delay. I've been terribly busy with schoolwork and considering as this is my last year, it's kind of important.  
Anywho, it's date night for Iruka, the little sweetheart. Continue reading to find what happens!  
**

* * *

The bounce in Iruka's step was significant, and it wasn't oblivious to the other chuunin and jōnin in the village. It was Kurenai who noticed it first, after he had jovially walked past her, his hands laced behind his head, smiling at anything and everything.  
At first, she thought he was ignoring her after she called to him, but her blazing red eyes hadn't missed the twinkle in his, so she pursued him.  
'Iruka!' she called again, breaking into a small canter to close the distance between them. For a smaller chuunin, Iruka could traverse a rather large distance in a short amount of time.  
He still didn't turn around at her second call, so Kurenai scooped up a small pebble on the ground and threw it at him, landing squarely at the pivot in his neck below his hands.  
Iruka let out a yelp and whipped around so fast that the moment was almost invisible. He was scowling but when he saw the grin in Kurenai's face, he knew where it had come from.  
'It's about time you turned around' Kurenai said, closing the rest of the gap between them. 'What's going on with you? I called to you twice.'  
'Oh right. That.' Iruka said, rubbing the point of impact trying to massage the pain out. 'I've just had a great day.'  
'Ooh, tell!'  
'Aww, Kurenai, you know me too well that I don't open up easily.'  
'Come on, like I'm going to tell anyone.'  
'It's not you I'm worried about. It's everyone else.'  
'I just said that I won't tell anyone.'  
'I know you won't. It's more the fact that this is a village full of elite ninja. I'm pretty sure someone's going to overhear it all.'  
At this comment, Kurenai grabbed Iruka's upper arm and began dragging him away.  
'Right' she said, pulling the chuunin along with her. 'You and I are catching up and we are discussing your life!'  
Iruka sighed, but it was more sarcasm than anything, knowing full well that it was easier to just go along with her.  
They went to their usual tea shop on the corner and ordered a cup of chai tea, a special of Kurenai's that Iruka also had a guilty pleasure for.  
'Right, so what's gotten you so air-headed today?'  
'Kurenai, don't make me...'  
'Ooh, that sounds like an insult to your trust in me.'  
'Oh fine. Don't lay the guilt trip on me. _Especially_ not those puppy-dog eyes of yours.'  
'Aha-ha, oh you're just no fun.'  
'No, I'm too accustomed to it haha. Fine, I'll just tell you.'  
'Good. Tell me everything.'  
'Well, short answer is, I have a date Friday.'  
'Friday? That's tomorrow! Who in the world did you ask?'  
'Ahh, you won't know her.'  
'Try me.'  
'Well, have you met the new kunoichi here in the village now?'  
'No!' Kurenai scoffed 'You're fooling me!'  
'I assure you I'm not'.  
'Iruka, how old is she?'  
Iruka looked sheepish at this. True, she was fairly younger than him, but you can't control emotions. It's impossible to do that.  
'Iruka, don't deflect it… Oh god, she's a genin isn't she?!'  
'What? No! Kurenai, she's a chuunin…I think…she could be a jōnin.'  
'You don't know?'  
'Well, Kakashi mentioned something about it the other day when I asked him about it.'  
'So, Kakashi knows more about her then you do it seems.'  
'Well, only because he had to save her from Naruto and his ramen fetish.'  
'Hmm, ok. So how old is she?'  
'…late teens.'  
'Iruka you dog! What's her name?'  
'Renita.'  
'Beautiful name, 'water lily'. Haha! Oh you two would be kind of compatible! 'Dolphin' and 'Water Lily'.'  
'Yeah yeah I get it.'  
'So, what's her deal? She just showed up here one day and no-one knows anything about her.'  
'She's more secretive than I am.'  
'You'll have to tell me when you find out. You could make tomorrow night a bonding session!'  
'Oh god, I haven't been on a date in such a long time. I feel rusty.'  
Kurenai slipped into her motherly mode. The kind of mode that she used around her squad.  
'Iruka, you're going to be fine. You're a smart guy and she wouldn't have a reason not to like you. Really, she's already said yes to a date with you, so it's one step. If things don't work out, you can either ignore her forever or become friends.'  
Iruka smiled. Kurenai might be brash at times, but when she was giving advice, she was direct to the point in a very sensitive way. She had known Iruka long enough and felt as if he was a bit like a little brother. She was fond of him and simply adored it when he was excited by possible relationships.  
She took a sip of her steaming cup of tea, the flavour of it satisfying her thirst. Iruka copied her, unable to think of a decent retort to this. True, he had often thought about the age difference between them, but he pushed the negatives out of his mind, focusing on only the possibilities of it all.  
'So what are you planning to do?'  
'Well, I asked her out to dinner but I'm thinking of going dancing afterwards too.'  
'Good combination. Have you got something to wear?'  
Iruka thought about this for a moment, remembering this morning.  
'…no' he admitted, deflated.  
Kurenai downed her drink in one.  
'Right that's it. You and I, we're going. Now.'  
'Huh? Now? Where?'  
'Hush up and come on.'  
Iruka guzzled his tea, almost burning the insides of his throat in the process before Kurenai yanked him away by the collar of his vest.

Kakashi's arms were stuffed full with different pieces of hardware. Something inside of him decided that he was going to fix up Renita's place a tad, starting with the kitchen. While it was quaint, her house was in dire need of renovations, and he wanted to do something nice for her. He wouldn't be doing this alone though; he still was able to have what was left of squad seven at his beck and call if he needed them. Naruto was grumbling with each step behind him.  
'Kakashi-sensei, why are we doing this?' he whined, laden with giant planks of timber and struggling slightly to carry them.  
'Because' Kakashi began 'You're still my student and when I need you for a mission, you can't object to it.'  
'I don't even know what kind of mission we're even _doing_!'  
'We're rebuilding part of a house, Naruto.'  
'Who's house is it?'  
'Never mind that. Just be quiet until we get there.'  
The two ninja walked until they had reached the decrepit looking house, a small chill blowing.  
'Woah, this place really does need fixing.' Naruto said, eyeing the house with distaste.  
'I did tell you that. Come on, follow me. We're starting with the kitchen. _Don't_ wander anywhere else in the house, got it?'  
'Yeah yeah, ok Kakashi-sensei.'  
Kakashi pushed open the door gently with his foot, and used his back to hold the door open for Naruto as he traipsed through the doorway, attempting to avoid banging into anything with the timber.  
'This way.'  
'Sensei, where's Sakura? Shouldn't she be here helping if it was supposed to be a 'squad seven' mission?'  
'She'll be here soon. I needed her to do something else for me first before she arrived.'  
'Oh…ok… But she's coming right?'  
'Yes Naruto. Sakura will be here. I just said that.'  
Naruto went quiet, and Kakashi knew that he was thinking about Sakura. He had seen the way that he adored her, and now, Kakashi finally understood what exactly it felt like. He couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness for the young ninja. Ever since Sakura and Naruto were put on a squad together, he had been trying desperately for her to notice him in a different light, but he failed every time. Whether or not he had before-hand was unknown to Kakashi, but he had seen it all too clearly since they first began having him as their sensei.  
Naruto's eyes were travelling around in every direction as they walked down the hallway. Cheekily, he tried to sneak away from Kakashi into a room they had just passed through the passage. Naruto carefully lowered the large pieces of timber, trying not to make a sound as they touched the floor and tip-toed backwards, poking his head into the room.  
A pack of nails hit Naruto square in the temple and he yelped in pain and toppled over.  
'Naruto!' Kakashi growled 'I told you not to wander off!'  
'Doesn't mean you need to throw a pack of nails at my head, sensei.' Naruto retorted, rubbing the side of his face and wincing.  
'Well, maybe if you hadn't tried to look around without me, I wouldn't have needed to. Remember, someone lives here. You can't just go poking around the place and intruding on their privacy.'  
'Yeah ok. I get it now.'  
'Good.' Kakashi sighed, exasperated. 'It's just down here.'  
They carried their shopping into the kitchen, the dishes from this morning now cleaned and set aside.  
'Right.' Kakashi began, dropping the many packages and hardware tools. 'Naruto, since you need work on following instructions, I want you to read over these blue prints and see if you can put together a cupboard. If you can't complete it, that's fine, but see how much you can get done. I'll be back in a moment.'  
'Wait, Kakashi-sensei, where are you going?' Naruto asked, starting to panic.  
'You'll be fine. These are obvious instructions so you shouldn't have a problem with it.'  
'But-but, wait!'  
Kakashi had already begun to leave, walking down the passage. He looked over his shoulder to see Naruto looking at the pages of instructions that he had left him, so he took his opportunity to peek into Renita's bedroom.  
_'Oh good, they're still there.' _he sighed to himself. _'I just hope Naruto didn't see them.'_

Renita was aimlessly walking around the village, trying to make sense of what had just happened today. How is it that two shinobi that were older than her had asked her out on a date in the space of one day? It's almost impossible. Really, she didn't think much of herself to begin with. She thought of herself as a monster to society actually, and yet, somehow two men had thought the complete opposite. She smiled to herself at this. It made her feel special, something that she hadn't felt since she was with her brother when they were escaping together. The big thing to her wasn't that she in fact _had_ two dates, but it had occurred to her that she needed to eventually make a choice on who she was going to be with, in the likelihood that she wanted a relationship.  
Still, she was in high spirits. Who better than to make her feel special than the childish delight of Iruka Umino, or the mysteriously attractive Kakashi Hatake.  
She was walking through the streets, surrounded by many different shops and stalls when it hit her:  
She had absolutely nothing to wear!  
To either of the dates!  
She gripped her forehead and began to panic. Where in the world was she going to find a store that was open after five to get a dress? Nowhere, that is.  
'No, no, no!' She moaned, cramming her eyes shut and shaking her head vigorously in the middle of the street.  
'Hey! You alright?' a voice said, and a hand was placed on Renita's shoulder.  
Renita whirled around looked at the person who had stopped to see if she was ok. A lady with spiky, deep-purple coloured hair and wearing a pale yellow trench coat with a high collar was smiling at Renita.  
'Oh, right' Renita said, dropping he hands to her sides, letting them dangle freely with a defeated look. 'Oh, I'm just having a meltdown.'  
'Well, tell Anko _all_ about it,' This stranger said, taking Renita's arm and linking their arms together. 'Oh, my name's Anko Matarashi by the way!.'  
'Hi Anko. My name's Renita Takahashi.'  
'Pretty name. So, what's gotten you so riled up?'  
'Oh…well…short answer is, I have nothing to wear to a date.'  
'Oh lucky you! Who's it with?' Anko stretched the 'i' sound for at least a second, feeling very curious.  
'Ahh… well, it's with two people.'  
'_Get out!'_ (Again, she extended the sound of the 'ow').  
_'Boy, she's excitable'_ Renita thought.  
'Haha, well, it's the truth.'  
'Hmm...'  
Anko pondered something for a moment, and then stopped walking. She held Renita by her shoulders and looked her up and down, inspecting her figure, which made Renita feel insecure. Anko snapped her fingers and broke into a wide grin again.  
'I have just the idea!' she said, pulling Renita along with her at a brisk pace.

Renita was sitting awkwardly on Anko's couch as she heard the other kunoichi rummaging around in her clothes for something.  
'I'm…sure they're…around here…somewhere!' she grumbled, different colours and articles of clothing being tossed about into a pile on the floor.  
'Do you want some help?' Renita asked, feeling as if she needed to do something.  
'No that's fine!' Anko called back, another shirt flying past the doorway. 'I think… I may…have… found them!'  
'Found what?'  
'These' Anko said, carrying two different pieces of floating fabric. Anko's smile couldn't have grown any wider as she looked at the way that Renita's eyes had grown in wonder and disbelief.  
'Here, take them.' Anko said, holding them out.  
'I can't take these.' Renita said, looking at them with a warm delight. 'They're too beautiful.'  
'Ahh, they don't fit me anymore. You can keep them.' Anko thrust the clothes into Renita's arms.  
'But…why?'  
'I'll tell you something Ren-darling. I like you.'  
'What do you mean?'  
'When you walked past me before in the street, I knew exactly where you had come from.'  
'I'm confused.'  
'I noticed it. It's a mark of the sound ninja associated with Orochimaru.'  
The name stung like a swarm of hornets.  
'You're the first.'  
'It's nothing bad. My footsteps didn't make a sound either when I was with him. That is, until I wore heavier shoes.'  
Anko winked and indicated to her regulation ninja shoes.  
'You're secrets safe with me, Miss Takahashi. Now run along. You don't want anyone seeing these before you wear them.'  
'Anko, I can't thank you enough.'  
'I'll be around. Just order some dumplings one day and we'll have a girly date.'  
'You bet.'

Iruka was clutching a bag with his newly found suit inside. Kurenai had left him in a hurry after Asuma had called her over, leaving Iruka to fend for himself at the counter. He was quite pleased with what she had picked out for him though. It was a white suit, very 80's fashioned and was accompanied with a lilac shirt. Normally, Iruka wouldn't want to stand out so much but when she had seen it, she jumped at it with a look I her eye that screamed 'perfect'. When he had tried it on, even she had dropped her jaw. He looked so smooth, so refined. It accentuated his muscular physique and made him looked even more toned, albeit that was practically impossible.  
He was thankful that he had made a booking at one of the finest restaurants in Konoha before heading off with Kurenai. She was incredibly fussy, and spent majority of the evening finding the best cufflinks to match his ensemble. He got back home and carefully hung his new suit up in the closet, thankful to have such a good friend as Kurenai by his side. It was late, so he wasn't entirely what he wanted to do. There was a box of scrolls that needed marking as soon as possible, but he wasn't in the mood to do them. That, and he was tired from trying on clothes for at least three hours. Who knew that you can get so fatigued from putting on clothes?  
He flopped down on his bed, fingers laced behind his head and he smiled. He couldn't believe that he had finally gotten a date after all these years, and with such a beautiful kunoichi.  
'Hmm' he thought aloud 'I wonder…'  
He pulled himself up off the covers and stretched upwards. He shook his limbs to loosen the tendons and prepared himself in the ballroom position, imagining that he was holding her in his arms again, his hand on the small of her back and the other holding hers. Iruka twirled about his room, a fantasy of tomorrow night playing through his head as he spun, swayed and even dipped as he practiced his dancing.  
'Izumo, you have to see this!'  
Iruka stopped immediately and turned to face his window. A spiky, black haired chuunin with a matching shinobi outfit and a single bandage running across his nose was perched on the roof outside, cackling like a hyena.  
'Kotetsu!' Iruka yelped, turning maroon in embarrassment. 'What are you doing out there?!'  
'Watching you dance like a loony.' Kotetsu replied, giggles escaping from him at random intervals. 'It's a shame Izumo missed it. You could have taught us some moves.'  
'Come off it. What are you really doing?' Iruka questioned, folding his arms over his chest.  
'Nah, we were just passing and I saw you prancing about like a fairy. Oh, hey Izumo! You should check out Iruka's dance moves sometime!'  
'Aww, did I miss a lot?' Izumo said, face peeking out over the side of the windowsill alongside Kotetsu, his face half hidden by his brown hair and hat accompanying his broad grin.  
'Yes Izumo, you missed the show' Iruka said, slightly huffing. 'Don't you guys have somewhere to be?'  
'Dance one more time?' asked Izumo.  
'No!'  
'Aww, you're no fun.'  
'See you around then, Iruka!' And with that, Kotetsu and Izumo dashed off towards to gates to resume their post.  
Iruka stopped and flopped on the bed again. Time was going to pass slowly until tomorrow night.

Naruto was still attempting to sort out the cupboard that Kakashi had left him when Sakura arrived, laden with a paper bag filled with groceries.  
'Naruto, what are you doing?' She said, dropping the bag on the table and crouching down to where he was sitting on the floor.  
'Kakashi-sensei left me to put this together' Naruto grumbled, covered in paper and nails spread everywhere. 'Though, I'm getting confused.'  
'Here, let me help.' Sakura said, taking pity on her team mate.  
'Oh, this is easy Naruto.' In a flash, she had connected different pieces of timber together and pieced them together with nails, until a cupboard had almost magically appeared infront of the two of them.  
'Geez Sakura, you're too smart for your own good.'  
'Naruto…you were reading the instructions upside down.' (Naruto pulled a face and turned away).  
'So, where's Kakashi-sensei?'  
'He said he had something to do, but he'll be back…This was about two hours ago.'  
'Sorry I took so long. Kakashi-sensei wanted me to get some really particular ingredients and other things.'  
'Ahh, Naruto, you finally put it together.'  
Kakashi sauntered back through the hallway, hands in pockets. 'Sakura, did you get the things I asked.'  
'Yeah, they're on the table sensei.'  
'Good. Right, you guys are dismissed now. I'll finish off whatever else I had planned for you to do.'  
'Are you sure sensei? Sakura questioned.  
'Yeah, I'm in a good mood. I got what I needed. Go home.'  
'Hey Sakura, want to go for ramen?'  
'As long as you're paying, Naruto.'  
'Can it be a date if I do?'  
'You wish.'  
Kakashi chuckled slightly at the two genin as they bantered between them as they walked away. He looked at the rest of the timber and sighed. A flash of hand signs, and ten identical Kakashi's appeared, each attacking different swatches and lengths of timber with lightning speed until many different counters and cupboards were dotted around the kitchen at random intervals. Kakashi looked out the window. It's was very nearly night, the sun almost a speck along the horizon. She would be home soon, and he wanted to have things ready before she arrived. The many Kakashi's yawned unison and stretched infront of them.  
'There's still a few things to do, guys.' Kakashi said, indicating the bits and pieces of new furniture.  
All of the Kakashis sighed heavily and began pushing and pulling until they had tossed the old kitchen out the back door and replaced it with the newly built one.  
'Ok guys, that's enough.'  
The copies all disappeared in a cloud as they '_poofed_' away. Kakashi sat down with a groan at the table and rustled through the bag that Sakura had brought back with her. Everything was there that he needed for Saturday's rendezvous, for which he was thankful. He hadn't been on a date since he was in his teenage years, since he wasn't so easy to open up to. He rubbed at his clothes and his finger left a streak in the inch of sawdust left on him. Deciding that a shower would be the best solution, he stood up and poked his head around the hallway, looking for a bathroom. Eventually, he found one and while it was rustic in some areas, it was quite well kept. Kakashi poked his head out of the doorway and listened.  
Silence.  
Surely he had enough time to scrub up and make himself decent, right?  
He unzipped his vest and hung it over a loose rail sticking out of the wall, and pulled his shirt over his head, his white hair disappearing for a moment then reappearing in a messy tuft. He stripped off his pants, gloves, sandals, mask and hitai-ate and threw the many pieces of clothing underneath his vest, and stepped across into the shower, letting the water flow through the shower head and across his muscles, relaxing them almost immediately and pulling the thin curtain across. Normally he wouldn't use other people's products, but once the water had hit his body, an awful smell had risen from the sweat and grime on his body had caused a large amount of body odour, and it was _bad_. He plucked the soap from its holster and scrubbed furiously at his pectorals and flesh, turning it pink, but also giving it a lavender scent that was also quite enjoyable. It was during the middle of his scrubbing that he heard the familiar crash of the door banging against the frame on its slant, causing him to drop the cake of soap on the floor. There was no way that Kakashi was finished washing the suds off of him and his clothes were across the other side of the bathroom, leaving him susceptible to being caught. If that wasn't enough, his keen sense of smell knew exactly who it was that was home: that familiar scent of hibiscus weaving its way through the air, dancing between the scent of lavender.  
Silently, he backed up against the wall, attempting to conceal himself. He brought his fingers together and whispered 'Tōton Jutsu', blending in with the tiles around him. He crept his hand over to the tap and turned it off, attempting to make no noise whatsoever and listening intently for a sign. There were no audible footsteps, only slight noises of the opening of a cupboard and the click of it shutting from the bedroom, and then the sounds of the soft '_flops' _of material on the floors. Kakashi then turned a vibrant pink, although he was using the camouflage jutsu. He knew that that was the sound of clothes being removed and he was cornered, like a rat in a maze. His heart began to beat rapidly, in both fright and other humanly emotions men would get from envisioning a lady stark nude and drawing ever closer. While Renita wouldn't be able to see him due to the camouflage jutsu, he would be able to see her silhouette through the thin curtain, and yet, he had left his clothes on the other side of the bathroom, so moving was not an option. He heard some grunts and muffled speech from the other side of the door, and panicked even more. The door slowly creaked open and he saw the thin outline of Renita on the other side of the curtain, pausing at the mirror to let her hair out of the hitai-ate and leaving it on the side of the sink.  
Suddenly, Kakashi had an idea. He hoped desperately that she would turn around briefly, just for a second, and the odds were in his favour. She turned to get a towel out of the small cupboard and with lightning reflexes, he twirled the tap and cranked the water full blast, calling out 'It's occupied!', while remaining invisible. Instinctively, Renita grabbed the nearest piece of clothing she could grab her hands on, which was Kakashi's shirt hanging next to her and covered herself and turned pale, shaking from both cold and fright.  
'KAKASHI!' she yelled, almost screaming at the same time. 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT?!'  
'Wait, I can explain!'  
'I FIND THAT HARD TO BELIEVE!'  
'Just wait, please!'  
'-CRYING OUT LOUD KAKASHI! THIS IS BEYOND A JOKE! OH LORD! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THERE?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU _SEEN_ ME LIKE _THIS?!'  
_'Just WAIT!' Kakashi growled, traces of venom behind his words, silencing Renita immediately.  
'First of all' he started, his voice back to its normal, velvety purr. '_Thankfully _for the shower curtain, I haven't seen any of you, apart from merely a silhouette, _and_ I've turned away. Secondly, like you, I'm also underdressed, hence the jutsu. So, I think it would be best if just for a moment you can wait outside so I can come out and get dressed?'  
Renita just nodded silently and backed away out of the bathroom, still clutching the vest to her for dear life, but also grabbing his shirt with a swift motion, undetected by the shinobi. Kakashi turned the shower off and shook himself dry, droplets of water flying in wayward directions.  
'There's towels in the cupboard!' Renita called out from the hallway.  
'Thankyou!'  
He stepped out of the shower and bent down, plucking a towel from the small cupboard and drying himself off briskly. He released the jutsu and garbed himself again, pulling his mask on, and then searching for his shirt to accompany it. Realising that it was nowhere to be seen, he pulled on his pants, looking rather strange with just his mask and navy pants. He pulled on his gloves and collected his hitai-ate, flinging his towel over his shoulder.  
'I'm coming out now' he called, giving plenty of warning.  
He poked his out of the doorway and glanced around quickly, and did a double-take, seeing Renita leaning against the wall a few paces away. She was wearing his shirt which was much too large for her, the sleeves swallowing her hands and the torso long enough to cover her pelvic area and a third of her thigh. He took the time to observe her face properly, and taking the chance to look in her eyes, the purple iris striking amongst her porcelain skin. He smiled secretly behind his mask, for she really did look adorable. What Kakashi didn't realise was that this was the first time that he had revealed his sharingan around her, and she was staring at the crimson iris speckled with black in wonder and awe. If that wasn't the case, she was heavily attracted to his defined and sculpted torso.  
'Aha…sorry about that.' He said, meekly. 'I was expecting you a bit later, and well…that didn't work'.  
'Why is it that I happen to be nude around you and Iruka?' she questioned, the smallest smile tugging at her lips.  
'It's coincidental.'  
'Uh huh. I'm beginning to believe that it's some sort of conspiracy between you two.'  
'Believe me, it's not intentional.'  
'Right… So, that's what you look like'.  
'Hmm?'  
'I've only ever seen a fraction of your face.'  
_'And well, it's only the top half but gee, it's attractive' _she thought.  
'Well, it had to come out sometime. I wasn't expecting it to be this way, though. This is new.'  
'Coincidental, huh?'  
'You can call it that.'  
It was silent between the two of them for a moment, each one taking in every detail of the other that their eyes could swoop over.  
'So… are we on for Saturday?' Kakashi asked, his cheekbones rose pink.  
'Yes…on one condition.'  
'Hmm?'  
'Don't wear the mask.'  
'I can't grant you that. It's uncomfortable for me not to.'  
'What if I beg?'  
'No.' It was a flat out refusal, and she knew she wouldn't win.  
'Ok, ok… don't wear the headband.'  
'….ok.' Kakashi said, deciding that that would be the safer of the two options.  
'Lovely.' Renita said, finally smiling a small smile. 'What are we doing?'  
'Just be ready at nine o'clock'.'  
'That's awfully late. What are you planning?'  
'That's my secret.' Kakashi said, his eyes turning up into crescents as he smiled and walked past her.  
'Now, go clean up.'

She was late, and she was kicking herself for it. She had been preoccupied with her newly-built kitchen as a present from Kakashi and all of its wonder. While it still held her little possessions, she was captivated, since she didn't get a proper look yesterday after Kakashi had left and she had crashed on her bed, avoiding the bouquet of roses that he had left on her bed and swiftly giving him a hug before he left her house for the night. She had slept in until the late afternoon, after having such a hectic day with Iruka's class beforehand. She woke up and stumbled into the kitchen, only to find that it was not the one that she had cooked in the morning before, no sir. While she had been admiring her developing household, she lost track of the time and sprinted to get changed, slowing her down considerably.  
'_Dammit Ren_!' She cursed to herself. '_I just hope Iruka hasn't left!'  
_When she had woken up, however, there was a single scroll attached to the doorway via a kunai, with the address written in Iruka's neat handwriting and the time.  
She stopped a few stores away from the restaurant to catch her breath. Many people walked down the streets, colourful lanterns lighting the darkened lanes at night. She collected herself and prayed that she hadn't begun to sweat and walked calmly and collected towards the restaurant, seeing a slightly worried Iruka leaning against the front with one leg on the wall and his hands in his pockets.  
'Hey!' she called, quickening her step to catch up with him. He turned his head at the call and smiled, every moment of tension melting away inside of him.  
'I was starting to think you weren't coming.' Iruka said, holding his arms out to hug her. '…you look…wow'.  
Renita fell into his arms and embraced him a very tight hug.  
'What's the matter?' she said, worry hedging her voice. 'Does it look bad?'  
'What? No!' Iruka corrected himself, becoming flustered. 'You look…'  
_'Breathtaking'_ he thought.  
''…beautiful' he concluded, rather meekly.  
Renita smiled, her face glowing. Indeed, she was beautiful. She was garbed in a beautiful midnight blue dress that was studded with small diamantes, so she sparked in the glow of the colourful lanterns that bedecked the street around her. She was radiant, and her hair was pulled back with two curls framing her face, yet she remained to wear her hitai-ate.  
'Why thankyou…shouldn't we head inside?'  
'Come on. I've already notified the maître' D, so we'll be getting underway.'  
The entered the restaurant, the smell of all kinds of food swirling about in the air and making their stomachs hungry. Embarrassingly, Renita's grumbled profusely and audibly, and Iruka's head whipped over to look at her.  
'Hungry are we?' he said, coyly.  
'Are we really going to play this game?' she giggled, though she was quite embarrassed at the way her stomach announced its lack of feeding.  
'Alright, alright. I'm sorry. Wait, let me get that for you.'  
Iruka fluffed up the floor cushion for her from their reserved setting; a wooden table adorned with a lacy table runner.  
'Why thankyou, kind sir' Renita giggled, putting on a regal accent and winking.  
'Geez, you are too fancy for me.'  
'I am the epitome of fancy, Iruka darling.'  
'Well if that was the case, you'd be the one paying for dinner.'  
'And the backhand is served. The set is won by Iruka!.'  
It had started off as a promising evening. They were both talking jovially with each other and laughing. Iruka sighed a little as he looked at her, her smile and eyes lighting up as she laughed at the stories Iruka was telling her about his students.  
'-and this was before they were set into squads, but it really did happen!.' Iruka finished, after laughing again.  
'I find it incredibly hard to believe that Naruto kissed…Sasuke, was it?' Renita finished, trying to breathe through fits of giggles.  
'He really did! It was by accident, of course. Naruto was glaring at him as he was crouched on the table, and Shikamaru bumped into him and well, the rest is history.'  
'Am I going to meet any of these students?'  
'You can meet Shikamaru, but not Sasuke.'  
'Why not Sasuke?'  
'…he's not with us any more…' Iruka said, crestfallen.  
By the look on Iruka's face, she figured it was best to leave the conversation there. She was nervous, but the nerves were beginning to ebb away from her as the night progressed. The waiter arrived with a set of menus for them, and observed the two sitting together.  
'My my' the waiter began, smiling a broad grin 'Iruka, you have quite a stunning girlfriend.'  
Iruka blushed a deep crimson as he struggled to find the correct words to explain the situation.  
'She—she umm… she…' he started, unable to find any other coherent words.  
'It's the first date' Renita said, saving Iruka from any more embarrassment.' But he could have one at the end of the night' she winked to the waiter.  
'My apologies' said the waiter, handing them menus. 'Well, you two decide what you want, and I will take your order soon.'  
'Thankyou, sir.' Renita concluded.  
Renita watched as the waiter walked away to another table, but her focus was pulled away when Iruka hand taken hold of her hands, their warmth removing the chill from her fingers.  
'Thanks for the save back there' he said, looking at her deeply.  
'Oh it's fine. I didn't want him hanging around anyway. They always make things uncomfortable'.  
'And I thought I was the only person that thought that.'  
'No no, they're pretty nosy.'  
'Renita?'  
'Yeah?'  
Iruka's heart caught in his throat. It began to beat so heavily and fast that it caught his windpipe short of breath. He had been thinking over and over in his head how he was going to tell her everything that he had felt since they first bumped heads. How much he wanted to stay with her at every time of the day, and how it hurt to hear her and see her so broken in his own home, his bed.  
'I just… I wanted to…to…'  
'To what?'  
'To…to…umm (Iruka swallowed)…see what you wanted to eat' he finished, angry at himself for chickening out at the last second. He was going to regret it later.  
'Oh' was all that Renita said, feeling deflated after it looked like Iruka was going to say something important. He surely shared the same feelings for her that she did for him, right? Unfortunately, she also shared them for Kakashi, in all of his mystery.  
But, tonight was not the night to be thinking of him. It was Iruka that was here, and she was going to make the most of this evening, starting with a hearty dinner. Slipping her hands out of his grip, she smiled and unfolded her menu, scanning over the different dishes available for her to choose from, while Iruka mirrored her movements.  
The waiter sauntered over and took their orders, the both of them ordering a dish of sukiyaki at the same time, to where they looked at each other and smiled.  
'How is it that we always do the same thing almost every time?' Renita said, folding her menu and putting it down.  
'You mean like bumping heads?' Iruka said, coyly, copying her actions.  
'Not just that' she giggled 'Though I still have the bruise to remember it by.'  
'Bruise? I had a welt Ren!'  
'So we're on shorter names now?' She joked. 'In any case, that wasn't from me, silly. I don't know what you did, but I it was sure as heck funny when you turned up. What did you do exactly?'  
Iruka coughed and turned his head away, avoiding the question. There's no way he was going to admit what had actually happened.  
'Something silly' was all he answered.  
'So, tell me about yourself Iruka.' She leaned forward and rested her head on her hands that were folded together to make a small platform. 'I know so little about you.'  
'There's not much to say, and I'd prefer to spare you the sad story of little Iruka.'  
I'll be the judge of that.'  
'Heh…. Alright I guess. It's just…knowing where to begin.'  
Iruka rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, trying to think of the best place to begin with. He wanted to tell her everything, but it was personal, and divulging all of this information so soon seemed overwhelming, and he didn't want to scare her off. As he looked into her face, something about her seemed to say that she would understand everything. Renita sensed that Iruka was struggling internally, so she reached over and took his other hand that was vacant on the table. At this, Iruka smiled, easing his nerves and calming himself down, dropping the arm that he was rubbing the back of his neck with.  
'Why don't you start' Renita started, lightly tracing her other index finger over the broad scar stretched over his nose and cheeks 'with how you got this?'.  
Iruka closed his eyes at her touch, enjoying the cool refreshing feeling that contrasted with his incredibly warm skin.  
'Y'know, I've never actually told anyone this before' he smirked, opening his eyes after Ren had tracing over the deep gash.  
'Lucky me' she breathed, softly.  
'You are…in any case…only those that were around when it happened know it's origin, but I've never actually _physically_ told someone…it's a sore spot for me.'  
'Iruka, you don't have to say-'  
'No, it's fine. It's high time that I did I guess; at least someone will know.'  
Iruka took a deep breath, memories of the event flooding back to him.  
'The night I got my scar, the Kyuubi had attacked our village, and it's a night than none of the ninja alive to be a part of it will forget. It's a part of our history, and everyone available ninja that had successfully graduated from the academy was called to attack, so this meant my parents were involved. I had only just begun my studies at the academy, so I was young; naïve.  
'I wanted to be brave, and to fight alongside them as a family but they were fighting in their squads…so I broke away from the younger children and ran towards the war, with all thought and recognition of how inexperienced I was evaporating. I left all of my friends behind because I thought I could be a hero…how wrong I was. I tried to attack, but I was weaker and my precision poor, so it affected nothing.  
'I could see my parents up ahead, and I ran towards them wanting desperately to fight with them, to protect them. I kept running…but I didn't realise that I had put myself in the line of fire. Hundreds, possibly thousands of kunai and shuriken were flying around every inch of me, but I couldn't stop. Before I knew it, I was crumpled on the ground with my own blood pouring relentlessly from both my cheeks and the bridge of my nose. I couldn't so anything…I was scared…frightened…all I could think of was that I was sitting in a pool of my own blood, the smell and taste of copper overriding my senses…I didn't know what to do.  
Renita was sitting in complete silence, her mouth slightly parted as she listened intently to his story; like a fish hooked onto a fishing line. She only just remembered to thank the waiter when he arrived with their meals; its aroma enticing her tastebuds but she was far too interested in what he was saying to be interested.  
'What happened?' she pressed.  
'Well, medical ninja swooped in out of nowhere it seemed and carried me off away from the fray before I really knew what was going on.' Iruka continued, taking his hand out of hers and folding them in his laps with his eyes downcast.  
'I remember trying desperately to break away from them, but they pinned me down so they could heal me wound. The pain…it was unbearable. I knew that they were trying to help me, I understood that, but it was too much… I just wanted to see my parents, to know how they were doing, but all of my attempts to escape were fruitless. Eventually they let me up, and I tried to run back to them from the exact way I came, but a firm hand clasped my shoulder and forced me to my knees and I could only watch. It was at that point there, that I was seeing my parents for the last time…and it was from a distance.  
'You see, amidst all of the noise and the confusion of the battle, my father was the one that injured me. It was _his _shuriken that had sliced open my face to…to what you see today.'  
Iruka pointed to his scar, contempt shadowing his face.  
'However, it wasn't intended for me… but my own stupidity made me suffer for it, and it paralysed him. All I remember is the look on his face as he stared at me… fear…shock…disbelief… He couldn't believe or imagine that he had hurt his son the way he had and he froze, staring at me. As I looked up, he was standing there with his hand outstretched as if he was trying to reach out to me.  
'My mother saw the danger behind him though, and she called out to him but he couldn't hear her. The Kyuubi had gained considerable distance and it was dangerously close to them, but he was oblivious. She ran over to him, and tried to push him out of the way, except…except….'  
Iruka stopped talking because a large lump had formed in the middle of his throat, choking him up. This was hard, but at the same time, he felt better for it.  
'Iruka' Renita said in a small voice. 'You can stop if you want.'  
'No no, I'm fine. Really' Iruka said, forcing a weak smile. He had to finish. Not because he had started, but he owed it to himself to finish, otherwise he never would.  
Never.  
'Every day I see this scar and it reminds of that night. I wonder to myself if I hadn't acted so selfishly and ran in there…would they still be alive?...Am I the sole reason that they died? It's a constant reminder for me, and I used to play the fool so I could escape the reality of it all; the reality that I didn't have someone around to comfort me when I needed it…so it's why I became a teacher. I didn't want to see another child suffer the same pain I did, because it almost killed me to go through it alone.'  
A small smile fell on Iruka's lips, and his eyes changed from remorse to affection.  
'I look at Naruto and I see a lot of me in his stead. I had a rough childhood, but his was and will always be worse. Unlike me, he tried so hard to become the ninja he is now, but he had no help at all when he so desperately needed it so I stepped in, I guess. I mean, _I _deliberately messed around and suffered for it, but he didn't have the basic skills necessary to begin with and the children laughed at him. I don't want to see him have to go through the same thing that I did, so I'll always be around for him.'  
An awkward silence had built between the both of the after he finished, so Renita opted to pushing about bits and piece of her food around the bowl with her chopsticks. She had no idea what to say to this, since it was so personal and yet, she could relate to many aspects of it all.  
'The feeling of being alone' she said, averting eyes with Iruka and staring at the food being pushed about the bowl 'is more painful than anything physical that this world can give.'  
Iruka leant over his own plate and her hands in his, genuinely smiling again.  
'This isn't meant to be an upsetting night, Ren' he said, looking her square in the eye. 'Don't worry, things have changed a lot during the years, and they especially have now. Please, I want to see your beautiful smile tonight and nothing else.'  
Renita smiled, at the same time blushing a small pink at his words. Iruka was, in so many ways, charming and she found herself obliging to his desires, her sweet smile developing into a broad grin.'  
'Much better' he exclaimed, letting her hands go again and picking up his chopsticks for the first time that evening.  
'Eat. Before your food gets cold' he said.  
'With pleasure' she replied simply.  
They sat there; eating the delicious food sitting infront of them and gradually began to talk about many different topics again. Iruka's story hung between them, but as they talked about anything and everything, the tension that carried with it began to evaporate, before they were genuinely laughing and smiling to each other once again. The table was cleared and the two were offered desserts, yet both of them were much too full t consider eating another bite. More chatting between them, and they dissolved into fits of laughter, after which Renita sighed deeply; her cheeks beginning to ache.  
'Iruka, this has been a wonderful night' she said, flashing a wonderful smile at him which made his heart melt.  
'It's not over yet' he winked, standing up and helping her up by offering his hand to her.  
'Wait here, I'll be back' he said, making his way over to the reception to pay for the two meals. He returned shortly after, and took her hand again and lead her out of the restaurant.  
'Where are you kidnapping me in such a hurry?' she joked, tugging on his arm as he pulled her along.  
'You'll see' he said, laughing slightly, still walking as if on a mission through the colourful lanterns adorning the streets.  
'Not good enough of an answer, Iruka' she laughed. She pulled hard on his arm and Iruka was swung about face, colliding once again into her and they toppled over again into a familiar position. However, this time he landed on top of her a little further down and their lips pressed together.  
The feeling was intense, immediate. This was her first kiss, and however awkward and unplanned it was, it was enjoyable. Her heart skipped a beat and butterflies erupted in her stomach. It was incredible, but because it caught her by surprise, her expression was shock and it mirrored Iruka's perfectly. He was just as surprised, but he was a deep crimson once again. He had also felt the same feeling and he had missed it. It had been so long since his last kiss, and this one was pleasant, however embarrassing his position was on top of her.  
He pulled away from her and started to giggle, which exploded into deep laughter. Renita just blinked at him and dissolved into laughter as well. Iruka shuffled off of her and lay down on the ground, ignoring the looks from passer-by's as he, quite literally, rolled on the ground laughing at what just happened. When the two of them had finally calmed down enough, Iruka picked himself up and helped her up again.  
'Well, that _wasn't _what I intended' he said, dusting off loose dirt from his suit and then looking at Renita doing the same. He gently brushed some gravel off her shoulder and then pushed a lock of her out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. 'But would you still accompany me?'  
'Oh sure' she said, looking for more loose dirt on her dress, satisfied that the result was minimal 'but are you going to tell me _where _we're going now?'  
'Follow me' Iruka winked again, and offered his hand again 'we'll go slower this time. We're almost there.'  
'Heh, alright' she said, taking his hand 'lead the way.'  
Iruka was right. They were almost at his destination, which turned out to be a beautiful hall that was holding a large ball, figures twirling as they travelled the dance floor infront of them. Iruka turned and smiled cheekily at Ren, winking at her.  
'May I have this dance?' he asked her.  
'How do you know I can dance?'  
'How do I know you don't?'  
'Touché.'  
Iruka led her onto the dance floor and pulled her onto the dance floor, preparing his hands into the typical ballroom position. Renita obliged, and followed his lead. The two of them spent hours spinning, twirling and waltzing to the beat of the music. It was a beautiful night, and Renita couldn't believe the fun she was having with him. It was a perfect date, and her adrenaline was running high from sheer enjoyment.  
It was early in the morning before Iruka walked her home, carrying her bridal style the last rocky distance of the way, due the a heavy ache on Renita's feet from her shoes.  
'There's something I have to ask you' he said, setting her down on the step of her house gently.  
'What's up?'  
Well, it's two things; One, can I repeat something from earlier tonight and two; can I ask you what rank you are? I don't want to be rude, but I'm curious.'  
'One; it depends on what it is and two; I'm a jōnin, if that's nothing wrong….is there?'  
'No no, it's not wrong at all. Just curious.'  
'What's the repeat?'  
'Just this.'  
Swiftly, he leaned forward and kissed her again; nothing eager for more, nothing too quick. It was simple, tender and sweet, and they both enjoyed it immensely. He didn't care she was a higher rank, that she was younger than him, or that he hadn't kissed someone in years.  
He was happy.

~Earlier that evening~  
Kakashi was on his way back from the book store, a new edition of the _Icha Icha _series open in his hand as he walked A flash of colour caught his eye and he briefly looked up and his heart sank to a deeper level he didn't think possible.  
All he saw was Iruka fall on top of Ren in a very ungraceful way and the two of them connect lips.  
It was dreadful, seeing his friend so cosy with the girl he so longed after. There was no other explanation for how he felt.  
He was jealous.

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**Aww, wasn't that rough for Iruka to admit?  
Please note that while the origin of Iruka's scar has never been _officially _mentioned before in the series, this is my own personal view of what I think could happen.**

*Edit* Okay, I just found out that yes, they have recently told the story of the origin of Iruka's scar. I'll have to change this so it matches the actual plotline of the story but I'm _so rproud of how this one was! _It's frustrating, but I'm aiming to keep it as close to the _Naruto _series =(  


**I**** hope you enjoyed this _heavily _long awaited chapter, and I will desperately aim for the next one to be out sooner than this one was.  
Remember that if you get bored, please feel free to check out my DeviantART page for concept art and other bits and pieces that I do.  
The link for my account is in my profile page for anyone interested x**

***Liked it? Tell me what you think. What can I improve, change, what would you like to see? Didn't like it? That's ok. Tell me what you didn't like. I'm not shy for reviews***


	10. The Copy-Ninja's Own Technique

**I can't believe this took so long to write! I know I promised to upload it sooner, but so many things happened and I just couldn't write at all so I'm super sorry that it's so late, but hey, it's better than never, right?**

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Also, yes, there are lyrics from Muse in there. I don't own the lyrics, they are copyright of Muse and all of their associates. They are used for non-profit purposes.

Please enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review for me or a message!  
Thankyou!

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Despite the fact that Kakashi was walking around the village of Konohagakure with his standard casual stroll and _Icha Icha _book opened inside his left palm, he had to take much more concentration on looking as normal as ever because on the inside, a well of emotions was erupting inside of him; the most severe was an agonizing sadness. He hadn't been able to comprehend any sort of explanation for the 'incident' of last night whilst walking past Iruka's display of affection to the very girl that he had a date with tonight. To Kakashi, he now felt like he had a standard that he had to live up to if he was to impress Renita much more than Iruka had, and he was beginning to worry that he was going to seem unimpressive to her. He really didn't have any idea of what he could do to make her night special, and it was aggravating him as much as it was worrying him. This had been his train of thought since he woke up this morning, so he tried to stop him from thinking about it for a while by divulging himself in his book, yet the results were dismal. Kakashi kept walking, ignoring any type of person passing him, and since no-one normally spoke to him when he was reading, it didn't seem out of the ordinary.  
It was a small giggle that snapped his attention away from his book, the low pitch of it deducing the fact that it came from a male, and there was only one male that would 'giggle' so mischievously at some_one_ or some_thing_.

He was right, of course, as he came closer and closer to a very tall male with shaggy white hair sitting cross-legged behind an equally-as-tall hedge; a smutty, envious giggle erupting at spontaneous intervals.  
'It's been a while, Master Jiraiya' Kakashi said in his deep velvety voice, stopping next to the older man and crouching down next to him, still reading his book.  
'Kakashi, you're just in time to check this beauty out' Jiraiya winked, relinquishing his telescope to pass it to Kakashi for him to have a look. Kakashi closed his book and took the small red telescope, and peered through the lens.  
'Spotted a good one, have we?' he said, letting his closet pervert sliding loose to the surface a little, as he searched for this apparent 'beauty'.  
'Yup' Jiraiya said, keeping an eye around his target's location. 'Look near the green-grocer by the popular tea shop by the corner. Trust me, you'll agree with me when you see her. _Long_ brown hair.'  
'Alright, let's look' Kakashi said, focusing the scope onto the suspected woman. Jiraiya was right, however, this girl _was_ beautiful.  
It was Renita.

It didn't take a moment for it to sink in for Kakashi, and he acted entirely on impulse. Swinging his arm with the scope in his hand, he propelled it into the side of Jiraiya's face which caught the older man by surprise. The force of the blow knocked him sideways and he sprawled across the soft grass. Kakashi even caught himself by surprise by his sudden outburst of anger, but he was riled up to the maximum point now due to every single event that had happened from last night up until now. He wasn't terribly worried about the Sannin; he was a tough ninja, and he had suffered worse than just a semi-small blow to the face. He tossed the small scope to Jiraiya, who was now sitting upright again, rubbing his face.  
'Sorry' Kakashi said, pulling his book out again 'but she's off limits.'  
Without another word he traipsed away, still buzzing with annoyance and a small ball of anger burning inside of him. He'll work it off eventually during a large workout, or either in preparation for tonight. Jiraiya, however, wasn't annoyed in the slightest bit at this. A small smile, and he stood up and moved to another area for his 'research'.  
'So' he said to himself as he walked away.  
'Kakashi finally found someone to care about.'

Renita woke up in the early afternoon after sleeping the entire morning after her long night with Iruka. She was still reminiscing about the events of the evening with him; she was bouncing with a bubbly cheer, so she was looking at everything in a different light. Everything seemed brighter and more colourful with every smell more potent than ever as she stopped to smell the flowers at the florist once again. She picked up a graceful little rose and smelled it, the sweet scent tickling her nose with a delicate aroma. It was a beautiful day; sunshine with nary a cloud in the sky. Perhaps it was only the events of last night that made her so happy, but it was also the thoughts about tonight that sent her feeling like a little girl again. She hated to admit it, but she was feeling just ever so slightly more excited for tonight, and she had to admit that it was due to this mysterious pull that Kakashi seemed to have on her. Her biggest curiosity was what he was hiding underneath that mask; what could have happened in his past that made him wear it, and the biggest thing was how he could breathe so coolly and easily between such thick material. However, she had no reason to question it; she hid her own demons she preferred to disguise. She didn't want to wear her hitai-ate to either of the two dates, but she wasn't prepared to walk around with her eye exposed (being very much reminded of Kakashi). Still, she was ecstatic, and nothing was going to bring her mood down today. Nothing at all.  
She wondered to herself what he had in store for her, and how different it would be compared to the date that Iruka had given her, however it may be difficult considering she was on an ecstatic high since last night.  
That kiss.  
It kept replaying over and over again in her head, and each time it sent tingles coursing through her. How enticing his lips were since she woke up, and she couldn't believe that it had truly happened. Renita was infatuated with Iruka, there was no doubt, but at the same time she couldn't help but relive that one moment; when time had become a stand-still and the only thing traversing her mind was how glorious and splendid this made her feel.

She didn't understand how something simple like a kiss could make her feel so euphoric yet vulnerable at the same time. Positive feelings triumphed however, as she walked through the crowded streets in a blissful daze, barely focusing on where she was going. Consequently, she slipped on a uncommonly smooth section of the path and slipped, not acting quick enough to maintain her footing. To her surprise though, two hands caught her in her underarms and hoisted her back onto her feet.

'Well well' a voice said behind her.  
'Damsel in distress before our very eyes.'  
'Good thing we were here, huh Iz?' said a second.  
Renita looked over her shoulder sheepishly, a small blush creeping over her cheeks in embarrassment.  
'Thanks for the catch, but I'm not a damsel' she said, attempting to recover some of her dignity after her slip up.  
'And here we thought we were being chivalrous' the second voice said.  
It belonged to a mischievous looking nin, with an impressive head of spiky black hair. His partner, or who she assumed was his partner, was sporting an equally as mischievous look, however his hair was squashed under a hat, his fringe covering his right eye.  
'I guess she didn't want our help then, 'Tets. Let's go.' said the partner.  
'Wait' Renita said, brushing loose dirt from her pants. '...thanks for that. You didn't have to do that, but you did, so...thanks a lot.'

She flashed a genuine, pearly smile at them, easing the tension between them.  
'What are your names?'  
'Kotetsu' said the spiky hair.  
'Izumo' grinned the hatter.  
'Together' they began, in almost sing-song. 'We're the dynamic gatekeepers of Konoha!'

Renita just stared at them for a moment before collapsing into giggles over their flamboyant introduction. Something about them is so complimentary of the other, that it's no wonder that they're partners. Even their voices blended together so well, harmonizing the inflections in their tones, like alto and bass. Kotetsu had the deeper voice, which resonated low and mellow, while Izumo's was slightly higher, singing sweet and hollow.

'You two are hilarious!' she laughed, looking at the pair of them grinning like Cheshire cats.  
'Well, that's good then' Izumo said, walking around her, inspecting her up and down. 'If we can make a pretty girl laugh, then we've done our job properly.'  
His eyes wandered down her back, taking in her hair and below. Coyly, he raised his eyebrows at Kotetsu and signaled an 'ok' to him, refrerring to her rear, which her pants didn't help but accentuate its curves.  
Izumo, however, didn't prepare for the punch in the nose from Renita's fist because if it, causing Kotetsu to explode into baritone laughs at his friend's idiocy.

'Iz, you have to learn how to be more subtle...and you call yourself a shinobi' Kotetsu said, after he had settled more.  
'I thought I'd compliment her!' Izumo whined, rubbing his nose at the point of contact. 'I think she broke my nose...'  
'Oh come here.' Renita said, lifting him onto his feet and steadying him. She inspected his nose with a slight 'tsk' and a shake of her head.  
'Yeah, it's broken. Sorry. But I can fix it.'  
'Really, it's fine. I'll just go visit Shizune and- Ah!'

Renita's hand clasped his nose and batted it the opposite direction, a satisfying click indicating his bones has slid back into their rightful positions. Kotetsu giggled still while Izumo looked sullen, the pain receding slightly, but swelling was beginning to occur. Pity crossed Renita's features, and she did truly feel sorry for the nin that had helped her only moments previously.  
'I really am sorry, Izumo.' she said, patting his shoulder. 'I can take you home and put ice on it if you like?'  
It was a rather poor offer, but Izumo seemed to be in more pain that he was letting surface to his features. With a nod of his head and still clasping his nose to clot any blood forming, the trio walked in the direction of her abode as quickly as they could comfortably walk. Kotetsu and Renita talked among themselves as they walked, introducing themselves to one another.

'I've never seen you around here' Kotetsu said, hands in his pockets but grinning all the while. 'But you're right; You're no damsel in distress. You've got a fiery spirit.'  
'Well thanks' Renita smiled, enjoying the compliment. 'I'm not normally aggressive, but I just get self conscious and my ego was a bit shattered from my, well, clumsy moment.'  
'Ehh, everyone's slipped before. No big deal. Well it may have been for him.' Kotetsu points a finger in his friend's direction. 'How's the nose, Iz?'  
'It's definitely been better.' Izumo replies, his voice nasally because of the closed airways to his sinuses. 'Where'd you learn to hit like that?'  
'I taught myself.' Renita replied smoothly, putting her hands behind her head as she walked. 'You have to learn how to defend yourself when you're alone.'  
'What do you mean alone?' said Izumo, looking at her curiously.  
'Ive been alone since I was nine.'  
'Why?'  
'Well, Orochimaru- (a hiss emanated from the other two) was in charge of our village and then he became corrupt with power and experiments. My family was caught up within it all and-'  
She stopped, realizing that Kotetsu and Izumo had stopped in their tracks and were looking at her, much more alert than they had been previously.

'You're from the Sound?' said Kotetsu.  
Renita looked at the ground, downcast.  
'...yes.' she admittedly weakly.  
'You know that-' Izumo started.  
'I know perfectly well what the village has done to people!' she snapped, hurt at the sudden change in their demeanour.  
'I'm well aware of the things that has happened when our- _that_ village is concerned! I came here because I wanted to get out of it, to make a fresh start!'  
She swallowed, biting back tears that threatened to force their way out.  
'I came to Konoha because I didn't want to be feared anymore...I want to make friends and be proud of the shinobi I am... I've been alone for years and all I ever heard was how wonderful you all are... and I wanted to be a part of it... Can you deny me that?'

Silence.

'Can you?!'  
She was almost pleading with them, waiting for them to say something; anything. Without a word, they glanced at each other and walked over to her, picked her up and squashed her in muscular arms as they hugged her tightly.  
'No.' they said in unison, before kissing her on either cheek simultaneously with gusto. When they let her go, they were sporting giant grins once more.  
'Anyone that makes a speech like that is more than welcome here!' exclaimed Izumo.  
'You wouldn't be here if the Hokage didn't trust you either!' said Kotetsu.  
Renita was speechless. A minute ago, they were looking at her like she was scum, but now they were back to their playful selves. She blinked at them confused before a trickle of crimson fell out of Izumo's nostrils.  
'Izumo! Your nose!'  
He wiped his nose nonchalantly before realizing what the situation was.  
'Aww crap!'  
'Come on' she said, taking his waist and pulling him forward. 'Let's get you patched up.'  
Behind them, Kotetsu giggled again before lending a hand to carry him.

He felt silly wearing the tuxedo, but he had to look good. After all, he was the one that invited her along to have a moonlit dinner with him. He had planned the evening through his head again and again for three whole days but still he felt unprepared. His fingers were trembling as he attempted to tie his Konoha bow-tie neatly around the crisp white collar of his shirt, but he was unsuccessful. He stopped trying and brought his hands to his face, pressing his palms into his features.

_'Calm yourself, Kakashi'_ he told himself, attempting to press his nerves out into his hands '_You can't give her a good time if you're worried so much. She'll enjoy it, don't worry.'  
_Inhaling through his nose and out of his mouth, he brought his heartbeat down to a steadier pace. It had begun to beat rapidly just by thinking about her, and he prayed that it wouldn't embarrass him later tonight if it decided to repeat this action around her. He felt like it was going to jump out of his chest, the muscle battling against his rib cage with a pounding force. Strangely, he liked the feeling of it doing this: it was new to him, and he never wanted it to go away.

He tried again and successfully knotted the fabric into a decent bow tie. Indeed, Kakashi looked suave, and he was certain that no one else in the village would have seen him wear this before. It was going to be a surprising evening for everyone. Well, everyone that would catch a glimpse of him in this attire. He wanted to keep it secret, and only for Renita. If other people saw him in this, it would require extensive effort to keep the women in the village at bay: it was hard enough as it is just walking around in his shinobi attire that he wore every day, let alone a _tuxedo_. Even though he had never dressed up many times, he had to admit he did a good job: black suit with tails, white shirt, pressed black dress pants. Heck, he had even accessorised with a matching black face mask and spent his afternoon manipulating a piece of steel so it was emblazoned with the Konoha symbol. He had to thank Sakura for attaching it to the material though. As good as Kakashi was with most things, sewing was not one of his strong points. He felt bad for not telling her _why_ exactly he needed it, and referred to it as 'adult business', ending with him practically begging her to do it.

_'I'll make it up to her somehow'_ he thought, brushing off non-existent dust on his suit '_She did a good job on it and deserves some sort of reward.'_  
He brushed his tangle of white hair, returning it to its usual fluffiness and letting it fall on its usual angle, though the difference with it this time was that he had taken the time to shampoo it so it was _soft_ and fluffy, rather than him just leaving it to sort itself out and having it a mass of knots at the end of the day. He closed his eyes and a thought of Renita running her hands through his hair crept its way into his thoughts, and his stomach made a swooping sensation and tickled, but it didn't stop the image playing in his head. His mind then wandered onto more personal and private thoughts, sending his stomach into a frenzy of swoops and the tickling spreading lower…  
_'No no no no no!' _he thought frantically, willing himself to stop the fantasy playing through his head, and his body mercifully obeying _'not tonight, just not tonight!'_

Instinctively, he reached for his forehead protector, but remembered the condition that Renita had said before, so he left it on the dresser next to his bed, feeling somewhat odd without it. His sharingan eye blazed a blood-red next his brooding onyx right eye and it stood out profusely with his ensemble.  
Finally, he was ready to leave.

Kotetsu and Izumo's raucous laughter filled the hallways as Renita was finalising her ensemble for the evening. She couldn't help but laugh at the two larrikins that she had befriended, and she was glad for it. They gave her place a sense of warmth that had been lacking since she had arrived in Konoha, and truly she was grateful to have met more people. It turns out that the three of them were very much alike; quick-witted and playful. Renita was combing the last of her hair when a low wolf-whistle interrupted her concentration.

'Who's the lucky guy?' Kotetsu asked, leaning against the door frame in a slouch and admiring her get-up. She blushed a little at his compliment, though smiling a little.  
'Kakashi Hatake.' She pulled her hair aside to tidy her hairstyle.  
'No way!.' Kotetsu exclaimed, his jaw dropping.  
'What's so unbelievable about me going on a date with him?'  
'Because it's Kakashi _Hatake_, Ren. He is notorious for _never _admitting his feelings, let alone going on a _date_ with someone.'  
'You're making this sound like a bad thing, 'Tets.'  
'I, I didn't mean it that way…'  
Kotetsu stood and walked over to her, helping her tie the knot to her hitai-ate before turning her to look at her face.  
'I just mean that it means you must be special.' He said, before tipping her head forward and kissing her lightly on the top of her head and pulling her into a warm hug. 'Which is true' he finished.  
Renita smiled into his pectorals, wrapping her arms around his waist.  
'I'm nervous, Kotetsu.'  
'What's to be nervous about?'  
'I don't know.' She moved her head to the side, still hugging Kotetsu. 'I guess I just don't want to do anything embarrassing.'  
'Just be yourself. You can handle any trouble, I assure you. Izumo's proof, but-' Kotetsu tilted her head up, looking her squarely in her eye.  
'You are more beautiful than anything in this world.'  
With a smile, she pushed away from Kotetsu and ruffled his hair affectionately before a soft knock on the door interrupted the calm.  
'That'll be him!'

Her nerves were beginning to race, and she felt an overwhelming desire to hide in the cupboard and cancel the night altogether. It was only when she realised that she had kept Kakashi waiting for far too long. Izumo popped his head through the hallway, wondering what was going on. He was sporting a thick bandage over his nose now, a few spots of blood had seeped through the material. He looked like a macabre version of his partner, if it weren't for the pity you had to give him.

'Wanna answer the door, Ren?' Izumo asked, before meeting up with Kotetsu by her bedroom.  
'Yeah…okay.' She squeaked, pulling the door open for her date. Simultaneously, Kotetsu and Izumo's mouths dropped open as they started in disbelief at the infamous jōnin who was dressed in not his standard flak jacket and navy uniform, but an entire _tuxedo _and bowtie! Renita, however, simply smiled and greeted him shyly.  
'You look…You look…wow.' She said, meekly.  
'You look gorgeous.' Kakashi chuckled, tucking a water lily into her hair. 'Ready?'  
She nodded, and accepted his hand that he had offered to her. With a glance over her shoulder at her friends, her expression read something that was a mixture of glory and nerves.  
'Do you two mind house-sitting for a while?' she asked, quickly.  
'Not at all.' Izumo said.  
'We have everything covered.' Kotetsu said, giving her a slight push out the door. 'Just go and have fun!.'

With a click, her door shuts and the couple are left standing outside; one calm and the other feeling very awkward about herself.  
'I lied.' Kakashi blurted out.  
'What?'  
'I lied…about you.'  
'…what exactly about me?'  
'You're ravishing, not gorgeous.'  
Renita cracks a smile at him, feeling the worry empty from her and relaxing.  
'Don't do that.' She said, squeezing his hand. 'You almost gave me a heart attack…and a reason to hit you.'  
Kakashi chuckles, flicking her hitai-ate down over both of her eyes.  
'Then you'll hate me for this.' He says, scooping her up bridal style and leaping high into the trees.

Renita huddled into his chest in fright, but relaxed after she felt the muscles in his arms tighten on her; holding her in place. Feeling the wind rushing through her hair and Kakashi holding her sent her a smiling frenzy; curiosity and excitement bubbling inside of her.  
'Where are we going?' she asked, trying to lift her hitai-ate but Kakashi's other hand prevents her.  
"Just wait. I don't want you to see it ye-.'  
'Watch out!.'  
The branch that Kakashi steps on bends severely, almost snapping underfoot. Quickly, he avoids and accident, taking a different route through the treetops.  
'How did you know that was going to happen?' he asks, curious.  
'The wood has been getting steadily hollow and lighter every step you continued.' Renita replied simply. 'It wasn't sounding sturdy anymore.'  
'I forget you have sensitive hearing. In any case, we're almost there.'  
'Oh goodie…'  
'Are you ready?' He questioned, landing gracefully on softer turf with a light spring.  
'As I'll ever be.'

Swiftly, Kakashi untied her hitai-ate, relishing in the delight that lit up her features at the scene before them. A soft breeze blew through them, atop a moonlit hill: the grass was a translucent white from the Luna light, the water from a nearby river shimmered a brilliant powder blue which sparkled from the speckles studded into the velvet night which stretched above them like a cloak. Somehow, most likely through a henge, the moon was towering over them, a giant orb hanging in the sky cut only from the edge of the spacious cliff that they were on tonight. The light made Renita's kimono almost glow as it was bathed in the soft light, and the sapphire and black flowers adorning looked as if they moved along the soft material: like a breeze had inhabited every weave of thread residing in her clothes. It was this image that Kakashi had to let out a soft 'wow' of astonishment , his heart skipping a beat in his chest.

'You did all this...for me?' Renita said, running her hands along the soft grass and taking off her shoes to squish it between her toes, a smile illuminating her face almost as bright as the moon.  
'You inspired this' Kakashi replied, pulling out a blanket from almost thin air.  
'With what?'  
Kakashi hesitated. He wanted to tell her everything he felt about her, but something inside him told him to wait; to extend it throughout the night lest he scare her.  
'Your eyes' he breathed, avoiding her gaze as he lay out a lavish picnic for the two of them, cooked by his own hands. His cheeks were a little pink, and it wasn't from the cold nip in the air. Truthfully, the two of them couldn't feel it at all. They both were too fixated on the other person that was less than a metre away from themselves.  
'My...eyes?'  
'Yes, your eyes.'  
'...explain.'

He finally raised his head to look at her, his breath catching in his throat a minuscule moment before he could press on.  
'Everything about them makes me feel like I lose myself' he started, standing as he gazed at her without moving.  
'When I look into them, I see nothing but myself and...and you. It's like nothing else matters but seeing you and the way you smile at everything... They say the eyes are the window to the soul and when I looked at you, really *looked* at you the other night into *both* of them-'  
He took a shuddering breath, wishing his heart would stop hammering against his rib cage painfully.  
'-I felt attached to you. It's almost as if you possess this 'fire and ice' quality about you... A quality that I want nothing more than to...to...to be mine.'  
He finished, a whisper from the wind in the grass cleaving the silence. He wondered if this was too much, too personal to begin the night with as he stared at her waiting for her reply, to move, to *acknowledge* that he had attempted to pour his heart out.

Silently, she stepped up to him and placed her hand on his cheek, looking into his eyes, and smiled. With her other hand she untied her own hitai-ate and let it fall, deliberately staring into his mismatched eyes with her own. A small breeze blew over them and flicked their hair slightly, but their gaze never broke away from each others.  
'It's yours.' She whispered, her smile growing as he blinked at her in a cute kind of way.

At this point, Kakashi's heart was very near breaking point and he nuzzled into her hand lightly, enjoying her slender hands on his face through the material. Her fingers traced his jaw line, trying to perceive an image of what lies beneath but even that proved difficult to imagine and she let her hand fall off of him. He caught it gracefully and put it back up to his face, closing his eyes and searching for her other hand to take within his and bringing it up to his chest, laying it over his heart. They stayed this way for a moment and to Renita, it was like Kakashi was trying to say to her what he couldn't form into words, despite being such a smooth talker as he is known to be. She broke the moment off, mussing his fluffy white hair lightly and sitting down on the cozy picnic rug.

'Since when are you such a romantic?' She joked coyly. He laughed lightly and sat alongside her and began serving his own dinner: a mixture of sushi rolls, soups, onigiri and platters of sweet fruits which were tangy on the taste buds.  
'You made all this?' She asked, slightly muffled from food.  
'Every piece...hold still.'  
He wipes a small grain of rice from the corner of her mouth, much to her embarrassment.  
'Oh great. It's only just begun and I've already made a terrible impression.' She said, pink-cheeked and feeling paranoid.  
'Quite the opposite.' Kakashi chuckled, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.  
He stared at her for a moment as she took a mouthful of a sweet nectar, before she looked at him out of the corner of her eye and looking away quickly, but was compelled to look again as she finished her drink.  
'What are you looking at?'  
'Heaven in the form of a goddess' he whispered, locking his eyes onto hers.  
'You have a way with words don't-'

Renita was cut off by the feeling of a supple material that fit like a glove over a set of lips pressed against her own that she was compelled to close her eyes for. In the blink of an eye things had changed and she never even saw him move, let alone flicker before Kakashi has suddenly pressed his own concealed lips to hers. It was a much more powerful feeling than she had ever felt before deep within the pit of her abdomen, like fireworks had been set off within her core. Her heart raced, but it was nothing to the feeling that Kakashi had.

In that small moment he gazed at her, there was nothing else in the world that he had wanted to protect, to nurture, and to love except this girl in front of him. This girl, who like so many others he knew, had some kind of terrible past or moment in their lie but this one just seemed to call to him, tug at his heart strings more than anything ever had. The moment his lips touched hers his heart stopped momentarily and he was in pure bliss. He finally did the thing he'd been secretly wishing for and dreaming about for the past week. But it wasn't enough. He had to touch hers with his; feel the warmth of hers pressing against the soft skin of his. His desire for the touch was overwhelming until something inside if him snapped. His eyes flew open and the fog in his brain lifted, sudden realisation flooding through him and he flushed a deep crimson. He broke away, wide-eyed with fear that he had kissed her too quickly.

'I-I-I...'  
Words refused to find their way to diffuse the tension until he strangled a collection of them to his throat and they tumbled out of his mouth.  
'I'm so sorry. I should have asked. You probably think I want-'  
Two slender fingers pushed against his lips, silencing him.  
'And here I thought you were always smooth at talking.' She finished in a low, sultry voice.  
Kakashi softened, relaxing himself before he shook his head at his own stupidity.  
'You change me.'  
'For better or for worse?'  
'I don't want to decide...'  
He stood up and held out his hand for her which she took happily, being swept up much faster and easier than she thought, and she fell gracefully into his arms with a small squeak of surprise.  
'I don't always have to say what I feel, you know.' Kakashi said in his usual casual way and smiling underneath the flexible material. He has planned that entire action countless times and he was pleased at how easily he had executed it.

Renita just shook her head with a smile and buried her face into his shoulders as he slid his hands around her waist. Before she knew it he was leading her in a clinch, moving to a rhythm that she was unaware of but felt so natural. Slowly they moved further away from their picnic rug and into the middle of the hill, positioned perfectly in the centre of the moon. The light of the moon shimmered in his own hair and highlighted the sharingan of his left eye as he gazed at her briefly with both eyes open. His breath caught lightly as he looked into her own eyes, for the light had turned the orange twist a brilliant white and the purple a deep violet for one split second. It was beautiful, _she_ was beautiful, and for a brief moment, she was co-ordinated entirely from her head to her toes until that brilliant dancing orange disrupted the colour scheme once again.

Kakashi leant his head onto her opposite shoulder and took her hand in his for the typical ballroom pose as they swayed to a melody inside of him, quietly humming it to himself as they twirled and rotated in a tight revolution. Renita closed her eyes and let herself fall away in a moment of bliss, feeling the beat of his heart against her own. Since he was leaning his head on her shoulder, she was naturally forced to be pressed against him and it felt wonderful: his muscular frame pushed gently against hers, where he could feel every curve of her body against his own, her slender yet firm frame fitting together perfectly in his own like two pieces of a puzzle.

It was at that moment that both of them came to a sudden realisation: this was how it was meant to be. This is where the two of them should be at as many moments of the day as possible. With each other, in the arms of one another because it felt so natural, so fitting and so...right. Simply, they were meant to be, and there was no better explanation for it.

Kakashi had accepted her almost instantaneously, despite knowing so little about her to begin with but in his heart of hearts he felt it was the right decision: the decision to let one, and only one person in his life as more than anything else was here. He had decided; she was the one for him. Call it imprinting if you will, but he was infatuated with her and he knew that it wouldn't change even if he wanted to. Many people believed that he was a man with no feelings, refusing to let anyone in or close enough to hurt him. But he was human, there's no doubt about that and he had his own needs and desires to please and wish for, despite his apparent lack of enthusiasm for searching for a partnership.

In truth, Kakashi often lay awake at night envisioning someone of his own; someone to hold before he drifted off to sleep or to share his deepest secrets with. He often wondered if he had made the right decisions in life: about his identity, his friendships (or lack of) and the kind of person he is as a whole and who he had become at this day and age. But now he felt like that nothing else mattered at all or could even compare to the sense of elation that was developing in the pit of his stomach. He was so glad in fact, that he started to hum; the vibrations from his vocal chords low and resonant as they swayed to and fro on the spot.

'Sing for me…' Renita said. It had intended to be a question, but her mind was spinning uncontrollably to connect her words properly, let alone think. Her face burned with embarrassment but surprise lit her eyes and Kakashi pulled himself and faced her squarely in the eye. Despite his left eye being closed and riddled with a scar, he still managed to attain a distinguished poise; one that if anyone else were to replicate would fail shamefully at. With a slight cough to clear his throat and a pink in his cheeks he began, feeling terribly self conscious yet unable to yield his will to satisfy her wish.

'…"_give me all the peace and joy in your mind"_…' he whispered, trying desperately to get the words out to a audible volume, but his nerves were frazzled. Renita smiled, encouraging him wordlessly to continue. It's not that she cared if it was fantastic but rather she just wanted him to break down the protective barrier that he had spent years creating and that was whispered about the village almost as if it was taboo. With a shaky breath he pressed on, slowing their dance to a small shuffle on the spot while still moving to an unidentifiable beat.

'…"_Everything about you pains my envying…_

… "Everything about you is so easy to…love.."

He stopped, unable to continue but it was deemed more than enough. Surprisingly, Kakashi's voice was smooth and velvety; much like his everyday demeanour but when it spouted lyrics to some unknown song it suddenly became much more revered and otherworldly, due to the lack of musical encounters it would come to in other situations. He gulped down an bubble in his throat that formed in the small moment to reciprocate his breathing to normal amidst the thundering battering his heart was making in his chest.

'Beautiful,' Renita said, looping her arms around his neck and closing the gap between them, causing the swaying to stop. She lifted her chin and brushed her nose against his playfully without breaking her gaze from his. She could see the smallest of movements behind that gauzy mask and believed it to be a smile as she watched his eye crinkle up a little at the corners. There was no doubt about it; she had fallen into his web of mystery and was blinded by a fog of yearning which would ensnare her forever.

'Close your eyes.' Kakashi said, pressing his forehead to hers and wrapping his arms around her back.  
'Please…' he urged, and slowly she obliged.  
With his index finger of his right hand, he hooked it underneath the flexible weave and tugged it under his chin. With a dip of his head he pressed his naked lips against her quaint pink set. In the darkness, this feeling was something completely different than the previous pressure that weighed on her beforehand, but it was much more pleasant and softer than the original. She knew, almost immediately, that this was his bare skin brushing up against hers as goosebumps rippled over her skin at sheer euphoria from it. Renita felt a harder pressure from him but she refused to open her eyes; she was lost in the darkness and the mystery of it all, barely noticing the slight parting of Kakashi's lips as enveloped her bottom lip lightly, sealing any traces of separation for what felt like an eternity. When he reluctantly pulled himself away, the mask had returned and there was a soft twinkle of accomplishment in his onyx iris.

He wrapped his arms around her tighter before letting her go finally and he stumbled jelly-legged on the soft grass, the broadest of smiles playing on her features. For the rest of the evening they lay under the stars, talking quietly about their dreams and hopes for their futures, joking and laughing until she snuggled up into him, barely awake and falling asleep to the drumming of his heart, which had slowed considerably since the beginning of the evening.

It was morning before she realised where she was, tucked into her own familiar sheets and quilts in the comfort of her own home. Soft snores from what had to be Kotetsu and Izumo floated through the walls of her home and a smile played on her lips. Renita touched her fingers lightly them, reminiscing about that one moment of pure delight and it was then that her choice was made.

She was irrevocably in love with Kakashi Hatake.


End file.
